The Endperor
by FirstFandomFangirl
Summary: Sequel to The Nether Queen. After dealing with the threat of Null and Notch's grim promise to bring them down, Heather and Herobrine settle back into life in his castle. Unfortunately, a new presence has entered the game, and takes a special interest in her and her position. Make a wish! Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**its SEQUEL TIME BAYBE**

**yeah, the title's a pun, dont (a) me**

* * *

"You vile, wretched cur!" Heather screamed at her opponent, sword at her side at the ready. "You shall curse the day upon which you were brought into this world!" She swung her sword, and her enemy shattered before her eyes.

"Have you been reading my classic literature again?" Heather swiveled around to see Herobrine in the doorway, arms crossed. "And stop breaking my pots."

"Aw." Her arms dropped to her sides. "But Steve won't let me spar with him anymore!"

"_You _ruined a perfectly good enchanted bow!" The miner shouted from another hallway.

"I _said _I was sorry!"

"I don't know why I let you two have free rein of the manor." Herobrine rolled his eyes, turning around to leave.

"I'm the queen, dipstick! It's not like you could stop me!" He ignored her, and she stuck out her tongue at him before turning back to the shattered pot on the floor in front of her. She debated trying to clean it up for a moment, but decided one of the mobs would deal with it and walked off, long dress swirling around her ankles as she walked.

Originally brought to this world as a pawn in an attempt to satiate the rebelling mobs, by now Heather had fully settled into her role as queen of the Nether. Playing the part got considerably easier when she found herself in love with the king, her husband, Herobrine, and helped save him from several threats to his hardcore existence.

While her relationship with him had started out… fairly rocky, it had all ended up well in the end. Not to mention the other allies and friends the two of them had picked up along the way, Manfred, an Enderman, and Steve, who Herobrine once described as "the closest thing he had to an annoying older brother", which Heather found amusing to no end.

After several failed assassination plots on the parts of your enemies, she and her family had moved into the fortress in which they currently resided, which was slightly worse for wear after creeper damage but strong regardless. The mobs, most of which worked for Herobrine, still had a portion which was determined to defeat him and occasionally had to be crushed. Hence, the fortress.

Now, things were pretty peaceful. Except for the occasional mob attack, Heather hung out with her family and the mobs and wandered around the world. Herobrine wasn't always available to explore with her, but Steve and Manfred were always happy to show her around the infinite Overworld. Life got a bit boring sometimes, but overall it was fun and stress-free.

Swinging her sword around boredly, Heather passed by Steve and Manfred, who were playing a game of checkers. As she glanced over, Manfred took four of Steve's pieces, prompting a groan from the miner.

"I swear, Notch hid some dirty little tricks inside those brains of yours." He complained. Manfred just shrugged.

".nrut ruoY" While Heather still wasn't quite fluent in Enderman, she could pick up a few words here and there. Miserably, Steve jumped a single piece.

"King me?"

Grinning at their antics, Heather kept going. She passed by a group of pigmen, one of whom grunted to her in acknowledgement as she passed by, and she nodded to him. Her presence was respected by the mobs, and even those not under Herobrine's command acknowledged her as a threat.

It was good to be queen.

Strolling out onto a balcony, Heather leaned on the railing and gazed over the Nether landscape. A ghast floated by, emitting mournful sounds that echoed off the high arches of the netherrack-enclosed cavern. It was almost pretty, now that she'd gotten used to it. She still couldn't survive without sunlight, being a normal human, but the soft, reddish glow of the Nether came in as a close second.

"Heather!" She turned at the voice to see Steve coming up beside her. "Wanna play a game of checkers? It gets old having to lose to Manfred every single time."

"That's why I don't play with you, Steve!" She stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to the scenery.

"Aw, c'mon, I'll play you left-handed." He teased, resting an arm on her head. She glared up at him until he removed it.

"Don't get coal dust all over my hair, it's a pain to wash in the Nether."

"Sorry, sorry." He raised his hands in a submissive gesture. "Actually, on that note, I was planning to hunt down an ocean monument soon. Do you want to come?"

"Sure. How soon?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Cool, I'll clear it with Herobrine." Heather rested both forearms on the railing and let out a sigh.

"I'll never understand how you can be so content in this Realm." Steve remarked. "So hot, no night and day…"

"Well, you were built to live in the Overworld, I suppose."

"So was Herobrine."

"He's changed a lot from his original purpose." She pointed out. "More obviously in some ways than others, but still."

"Yeah, I guess." Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Heather watched as lava flowed lazily down a mountainside. "Heather?"

"Hm?"

"What's…" His voice was bewildered, and the queen turned to investigate. "What is this?" Tiny, red particles were floating around him, dancing in the air like sparks. Heather looked up to meet his eyes, but in that instant, he vanished into thin air. She blinked.

"Steve?" No response. She glanced around, scanning the Nether for any sign of him. Nothing. Whirling around, she turned on your heel and ran back into the fortress, yelling at the top of her lungs,

"_HEROBRINE!_"

* * *

**yay**

**~FFF**


	2. Chapter 2

"Heather."

"He just _vanished_ into nowhere!"

"Heather."

"He could be _anywhere_!"

"Heather."

"Stop ignoring me, this is not something to be taken lightly! What if he's in danger?!"

"Well, first of all, he can respawn." Herobrine's blank expression didn't change. "So how much danger could he really be in? And secondly, the only one other than me capable of teleporting people is Notch, and he wouldn't hurt him. Probably he just wanted him for something."

"Well… maybe." Heather tapped her fingernails on the hilt of her sword. "But he looked surprised, if Notch had called him wouldn't he know?"

"Not necessarily." Herobrine set his book aside, raising an eyebrow at her. "Notch's beard, Heather, he's immortal. Why are you so worked up?"

"Because he's my _friend_, and he looked _scared, _and he could be _hurt_, and-" She rattled off, and he stood, raising a hand to cut her off.

"You're right, I'm sorry. You do have a right to be concerned." He stepped over to her side and offered her his arm. "I'll help you search for him, and I'll send Manfred to look around the Nether."

"Thank you." Heather hooked her arm around his. "Um, we should start with his base, maybe, if he died he'll have respawned there. And then we could ask Notch if he took-"

"We're not asking Notch." Herobrine interrupted. "Perhaps we can ask Alex if she's seen him."

"Ah, yeah." She'd never met Alex, the other protector of Minecraft and Steve's counterpart. Apparently she wasn't that big a part of his life. "Do you know where she'd be?"

"I know where her base is. Manfred!" The Enderman appeared beside them in a flash of purple light. "Steve has gone missing, please search for him in the surrounding area." Manfred made an affirmative sound, and disappeared again. "Hold onto me ." Heather grabbed his hand, and the two of them teleported to the Overworld.

* * *

"You sure we can't ask Notch?" Heather asked miserably.

"I'm sure. I'm not giving him any excuse to try to exterminate us again." Herobrine responded, poring over a map. "Besides, if Notch took him, I'm sure he'll make his way back here soon enough."

"Yeah, but…" She heaved a sigh, resting her chin on her folded arms. "I just have a bad feeling."

"Which I respect. But often a feeling is just a feeling." Reaching over, he mussed her hair with one hand. "It's getting late. Go get some rest."

"Are you coming up?" Heather asked, sliding off the chair onto her feet.

"Not right away, I'd like to finish categorizing these maps tonight. But I will be up soon enough." Pressing two fingers to his lips, he reached over with them and touched his wife's cheek, prompting a giggle. "I love you."

"I love you too." Turning away, she exited his study, enjoying the fluttery feeling in her chest for a minute. Heading up a staircase, she made her way to his room, which she now shared.

Heather used to have her own quarters, and technically still did, but since she and Herobrine had gotten close they shared a room and bed. They hadn't… done marriage stuff or anything, just slept beside one another, and that was enough for her.

She changed out of her long dress, swapping it out for a nightgown, before seating herself on the edge of Herobrine's bed and leaning back on her hands. Probably best not to get her hopes up that he'd be finished before she was asleep. So, throwing a switch, she dimmed the glowstone lights and curled up on her pillow. Steve, please be safe, wherever you are.

* * *

A boot struck him across the face, and Steve let out a growl as he was startled awake.

"I'm always fascinated by your emotional capabilities." The man remarked, squatting down and grabbing his chin to force him to meet his eyes. "Gotta say, I don't really get why. Your job is to protect the world, fight the mobs, protect the players, right? Why are you so humanlike?" Steve just fixed him with a glare, unable to respond due to the piece of cloth tied tightly around his face.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot." He let go of his chin, and Steve blinked as his captor reached around and untied the gag. Licking his dry lips, Steve pulled back against the stone wall of his prison, watching the man warily. "Well? Why _are_ you so humanlike? I'm waiting." The young man gave him a comfortable smile, and Steve snarled,

"Fall in the void."

"That's not very nice." Tsking, the man grabbed him by the hair and pulled him forward, Steve jerking away but unable to fight back as his wrists were fastened firmly to the wall. His gag was replaced in an instant before he was released, and he slumped against the wall again.

"You know, with a little work, I bet I could break into your code." His captor remarked. "I could do anything with you. Change your personality, your memories, your functions…" A shudder ran through his body involuntarily, and the stranger laughed. "Yeah, didn't think so. So be a good AI and don't run unless I tell you to."

Straightening up again, the man flashed him one more grin before turning and exiting the cell, leaving him alone. Letting out a muffled sigh, Steve leaned his aching head back against the cold wall. Notch was stronger than this thing, whatever it was, right? He'd find out what was going on and deal with it. And if he didn't… would Herobrine come after him? He was stronger, maybe…

Shaking his head, he closed his eyes. Nothing he could do but wait.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alex!" Heather yelled, hands cupped around her mouth as she ventured into the miner's base. "Alex?"

"We could leave a message for her." Herobrine suggested. "Via a sign or a book and quill. It's inefficient to just come back every day and look."

"I guess, yeah." Heather sighed, planting her hands on her hips. They'd been there the day before, just long enough to yell for her a few times before moving on. "Do you know if she travels a lot?"

"I do not. We've never spoken much, but she dislikes me by extension as a friend of Steve's." Herobrine placed a sign on the wall and touched it, causing text to appear letter-by-letter. "It's quite possible she has other bases that she may reside in. Could you look around and see if there's a Nether portal network somewhere?"

"Yeah." Heather wandered off down the hall, passing by a huge library and a room filled with chests as the hallway sloped downwards. Alex's base looked bigger and more structured than Steve's, suggesting that she was a bit more of a perfectionist than him. From what she'd learned about him since they met, Steve was content to have a system that worked for him, no matter how disorganized it appeared to others.

At the end of the hallway was a staircase, which lead down to a fancily-decorated Nether portal. After drawing her sword - just in case - Heather slipped through, and appeared in a well-lit room made out of various types of stone bricks. Alex really didn't mess around.

She glanced outside to see several torch trails leading off in different directions, most likely leading to other portals. She wasn't going to explore them all, though, at least not without Herobrine, so she turned around and crossed back through to the Overworld.

The moment Heather stepped out of the portal frame, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was shoved up against the wall.

"You're not Alex." A male voice stated as she let out a muffled shriek. "Actually, I've never seen anything like you before. What _are_ you?" Hand tightening on the handle of her sword, Heather twisted her wrist in an attempt to stick her captor with the blade, but his other hand wrenched it out of her grip and he pinned her hands behind her back.

Footsteps echoed down the stairway. Herobrine. Heather tried to bite her attacker's hand, but he yanked it away and shoved her head into the wall, drawing a cry as her head slammed into the stone. Through the stars in her vision, Heather could see red particles appearing around her, and she realized just before the room vanished that this was what had happened to Steve.

The wall disappeared, and Heather crumpled forward as the grip on her arms was released. She managed to catch herself before she hit the stone floor, but the impact still sent a spike of pain through her forearms. Groaning, she flipped herself over, propping herself up with one arm to face her captor.

Standing over her, arms crossed over his chest, was a young man dressed entirely in white. His skin was jet black, nearly as black as Null's, and his eyes glowed red with an eerie light by which Heather could only just make out his features. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she fixed him with the coldest glare she could muster in return.

"Who the **** are you?!"

"I asked you first." He didn't flinch. "You must be a new addition. A pretty little thing like yourself can't have been around for long, not with no info about you available."

"What in the world are you going on about?"

"Never mind. What do they call you?"

"My _name_ is Heather, I am the _queen_ of the Nether, and _you-_" She jabbed a finger at him. "You are going to regret messing with me."

"Queen of the Nether?" His other eyebrow went up. "I thought we weren't getting more Nether content until 1.16."

"What?" Was he talking about a future update? How much time had passed in the real world? Who _was_ he, anyway? "You never answered my question. Who are you?!"

"You can call me Entity 303." The name was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Get up." He gestured curtly, taking a step back, and Heather struggled upright with a groan.

"Herobrine's gonna make you pay for this."

"Oh! You know him?" 303's face broke into a grin, revealing yellowed teeth. "Please, tell me all about him. I didn't even know he was real until I hunted down Steve in the Nether a while back."

"You did take him!" Heather took a threatening step towards him, but her head throbbed with pain and she stopped in her tracks. "Where is he!?"

"Geez, calm down. He's fine, just safely locked away." Turning away, 303 waved her along with him. "Keep up."

"Why would I do that?" Heather sputtered. "You just _kidnapped _me, you're threatening me, you took Steve and _did something_ to him, why on earth would I do what you say?" The man stopped.

"...because I kidnapped you? I'm threatening you? I'm far more powerful than you could ever imagine, and if you don't come voluntarily, I'll _make_ you?" He snapped his fingers. "Keep up." She followed.

The name he'd given her kept nagging at her head, a memory she thought was a few years old, but she couldn't remember its' origin. He definitely didn't look familiar, and she was pretty sure she'd remember a… striking appearance like his.

303 lead her down through the cave, from rough stone into a stone-brick hallway. She hadn't passed a single light source, Heather noted, but she had yet to see any mobs. Her captor was most likely stopping them from spawning.

Finally, she approached a single torch at the end of the hallway. She noticed a few iron doors lining the hall, not unlike a dungeon - which she had no doubt that this place was. Coming to the last door, 303 gestured towards it, causing it to swing open to reveal a nearly pitch-black room.

"Your quarters, oh majesty." He mocked, and Heather took a few moments to glare at him before making her way into the cell. Immediately, the door was slammed shut behind her, and she was left in total darkness.

Grumbling under her breath, Heather sunk to the floor, reaching out to the sides to try and get an idea of the confines of her prison. She couldn't feel any walls from where she sat near the door, so at least she had a bit of room to move around. Clutching her arms to her chest, she cursed the heat of the Nether under her breath. While perfectly reasonable down there, the sleeveless gown she typically wore felt uncomfortably bare in the cold cave.

Slowly, she scooted back until she hit the wall and curled up around her knees. Whoever her captor was, he seemed to be pretty powerful. Heather couldn't teleport, she wasn't physically strong enough to get herself out of the cell, and without a weapon she doubted she could beat him in a one-on-one fight. Basically, she was stuck waiting for Herobrine again.

This wasn't any more fun than the last time she got kidnapped and locked up, but she still didn't have any influence on the situation, so all she could do was sit and hope that her husband came soon.


	4. Chapter 4

***whispers***

**leave me reviews if u enjoy this**

* * *

"Heather!" Herobrine shouted, reaching the bottom of the staircase to find an empty hall. "Heather?" A Nether portal hummed at the end of the hallway, and as he examined it he spotted a diamond sword lying discarded on the ground. Not a good sign.

It only took him a moment to cross through the portal, then search the immediate area for his wife. No sign of her. Turning back, he entered the portal again and retrieved the sword from the ground, examining it. It was hers, the hilt had been slightly modified to accommodate her smaller hands.

Putting it in his inventory, he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs. He had heard her cry out, she hadn't gone intentionally. He needed to get back to the manor and send out the Endermen to look for her, as soon as he left that message for Alex.

"Steve?" A feminine voice startled him, and he whirled around to see a red-haired woman in the hall behind him. Her eyes widened, and she whipped out a sword, jabbing it at his chest. "Explain yourself."

"I'm looking for Steve." Slowly, he raised his hands. He wasn't afraid of Alex, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he'd rather not pick a fight with her when she could be a valuable ally. "He's disappeared, and I came here to ask if you might know where he went."

"I don't. But if I did, I wouldn't tell you." She lowered the sword an inch, green eyes locked on his. "Why do you care?"

"My wife would have my head if I didn't go looking for him." Alex blinked, and a chuckle escaped her.

"You're married now?"

"As of a few months ago, yes."

"Well, congratulations. But that's not a free pass for you to just wander around my base."

"I apologize. I was trying to find her, as she just disappeared in much the same manner as Steve did."

"Your wife?" He nodded. "Well, having to hang out around you all the time, who can blame her?" Herobrine fixed her with a glare, and she sighed, dropping her sword to her side. "Oh, fine. I'll keep an eye out for them. Need anything else while I'm being nice?"

"No. Thank you." Backing away, Herobrine bowed his head before teleporting back to the Nether. He'd rather not have to interact with her any more than he could help.

Manfred was at his side a moment after he appeared, questioning Heather's absence, and he responded,

".reh rof hcraes em pleh dna srehto eht yllaR .enog s'ehS" The Enderman nodded before he vanished, and Herobrine made a beeline for a table covered in loose papers. Reaching for a map, he paused upon spotting a book under a pile of documents. One of Notch's changelogs. Did he have something to do with this?

Grabbing the map, Herobrine straightened up. If he didn't find Heather and Steve soon, Notch was his next stop.

* * *

Heather let out a startled yelp as the door to her cell abruptly swung open.

"Up and at 'em." Entity 303 poked his head in, the red glow from his eyes illuminating his face. "We need to talk."

"Why?" The blond squinted up at him, leaning her chin in her hand. "I mean, not that it wouldn't be more fun than sitting here in the dark, but why? What do you want with me?"

"Let's just say I'm interested in a trade." 303 leaned against the doorframe. "I'll tell you about me if you'll tell me about you. How's that?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Only if you go first."

"Fair enough." He offered her a hand, but she ignored it, struggling to her feet on her own. She took a step towards the door, but stopped.

"And I want to see Steve."

"I told you, he's fine." The man stepped out of the doorway, nodding down the hall. "Come on."

"Nope. You're gonna let me see him with my own two eyes, or I'm not telling you a thing." Heather planted her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. 303 stared at her for a few moments, probably weighing whether or not it was worth fighting over, before letting out a drawn-out sigh and stepping back.

"Fine." He extended a hand down the hallway. "Right this way, your highness."

"You really don't have to do that." Heather brushed past him.

"Do what?"

"Mock me."

"I'm not mocking you, I'm demonstrating my respect for the queen of the Nether." Coming up behind her, he poked at her crown - just a small tiara clipped to her hair. She smacked his hand away.

"If you respected me, you'd keep your hands to yourself."

"Maybe." As they passed another iron door, he stopped and gestured to it. "Here." She turned as he waved a hand at it, and the door flew open with a _bang_. Apparently he had no subtlety when it came to entrances.

Taking a hesitant step closer, Heather spied a body against the far wall, and leaned past her captor to get a better look. The figure raised his head, and she recognized Steve, chained to the wall by his wrists and gagged with a strip of fabric.

"Steve!" She ducked past 303, who grabbed after her but missed, and fell to her knees at her friend's side.

"I said _see_ him, not have a full-fledged reunion!" 303 complained, but Heather ignored him, reaching for the gag to try and untie it.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?" She rambled, starting to work at the knot behind his head. 303 sighed, but didn't protest further as Steve offered her a tight smile. When she got the knot free, she pulled the cloth away, and the miner took a deep breath as he leaned forward.

"I'm fine." He assured her, voice slightly rougher than normal due to the lack of use. "I'm not hurt, just very well-contained." He rattled his wrists in their chains, and Heather threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. She felt his body relax a bit underneath her, and he rested his chin on her arm. A few seconds passed, then 303 cleared his throat loudly.

"About done?"

"Shut your stupid face." Heather's voice cracked, and she gave Steve a squeeze.

"Are you okay?" He whispered. "How did he get you?"

"Ambushed me when me and Herobrine were looking for you." She took a deep breath. "He just locked me up. He hasn't tried to hurt me yet."

"And I don't _plan_ to, unless you give me a reason." 303 cut in. "So get on your feet before I have to drag you." She let out a sigh, then sat back on her knees, letting go of him.

"What's the point, anyway? Why are you keeping him prisoner here?" She fixed him with a glare over her shoulder, and he shrugged.

"I told you we'd trade questions, if you want to stop stalling and come with me." Glowering, she picked herself up off the floor, and threw one last look at Steve before turning and exiting the cell. 303 glanced at the discarded gag on the floor, but apparently decided it wasn't worth it and stepped out, letting the door slam shut again.

"Come on, it's not very far." Without even looking at her, 303 turned and started heading down the passage again. Heaving a sigh, Heather hugged her arms to her chest and followed, the cold air biting at her skin as she made her way down the hallway into the dark.


	5. Chapter 5

Entity 303 slid into a chair, propping his feet up on the table and raising an eyebrow at her.

"So, how long have you been in the game?"

"I thought we agreed that you would be answering questions first." Arms folded, Heather seated herself in the chair across from him, meeting his eyes with what she hoped was a cold look.

"Oh, fine." He didn't change his posture, except to cross one leg over the other. "So, ask away. What do you want to know?"

"Well…" The queen folded her hands in her lap, running through the backlog of questions she had come up with over the past few hours. "Well, who _are_ you? Where do you come from? I should think I'd have heard of you if you'd been in the game for a while, so you must be pretty new."

"I could say the same of you, spitfire." He shot her a grin, and she blanched at the nickname. "But, to answer your question, you know my name, of course. Entity 303. I am not a natural part of this game, nor an AI of any sort. I'm a hacker, and I'm from the real world." Heather blinked.

"Are you… actually in the game, now? Or are you just interacting with me from Earth?"

"I'm as a part of the game as you, baby." Again, she glared. "As for my motivations, I'm very interested in taking responsibility for the handling and upkeep of this game." When she stared, he elaborated. "By which, of course, I mean I want to take over the world."

"Oh. Why?"

"Why _not?_ You're a queen, surely you appreciate a little power." He lifted a hand, a red glow lighting the air around him, and she felt the room shake. He lowered his hand with a chuckle when she grabbed the table for support. "And when I have the ability to do this, why shouldn't I?"

"Well, that doesn't explain why you took Steve and I prisoner!" Heather snapped. "Notch should be the one you're after!"

"Oh, I'll get to Notch. But before I get rid of him, I thought it would be prudent to take out his little minions so they couldn't interrupt." He shrugged. "You were in Alex's base. I wasn't looking for you. But you're another one of his minions, so I figured I should make sure you didn't get in my way."

"Ready to have your mind blown?" Heather asked flatly. "I'm not an AI either. I'm a human. From the real world." He stared. "Yeah."

"...really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Oh, that- that explains a lot." He sat up, dropping his feet onto the floor. "I couldn't find any records of you, nor could I access your code beyond a few surface factors. But how- how long have you been here? How did you get here? How did-"

"Pretty sure I never said I was done asking questions." She interrupted. "What's your _real_ name? How old are you? How long have _you_ been in the game?"

"My _real_ name, for all intents and purposes, is Entity 303." His curious expression shifted almost instantaneously into a scowl. "Nothing about my old life is important, because I'm _not_ going back." Heather blinked at the seriousness in his voice. This was the most angry she'd seen him yet, he probably wasn't going to back down.

"...well, I want to know your relative age, anyway, if just because you keep flirting with me. You _are_ aware that I'm married?"

"What? No." 303 squinted across the table at her. "Steve?"

"I'm not married to Steve." She felt her face heat up at the thought. "Herobrine."

"How in the - okay, I'm 17. I've been in the game for a couple months now. Are you finished?"

"Um, I guess?" His face was back to curious. When he wasn't trying to be intimidating, he looked almost sweet. "Go ahead."

"How'd you end up in the game?" He asked without missing a beat.

"Herobrine brought me here."

"How?"

"He can teleport to the real world, apparently, and he took me back with him."

"How? And why?"

"I honestly have no idea how he does it." She admitted. "I never got around to getting an explanation out of him. And he took me because he needed a queen. So he married me."

"And you were _okay_ with this? You knew him beforehand?"

"...not really. But we worked it out."

"...ah." He leaned back in his chair, processing this information. "Herobrine is… really ****ing powerful, then."

"Yeah." There was a familiar flutter in her chest. "He's going to be pretty mad when he finds you."

"Oh, I'll worry about that." He waved her off. "So, you're… just a human here."

"Pretty much."

"If you die, will you respawn?" A shudder ran through her.

"I've never died, and I don't care to try."

"Fair enough. You're pretty vulnerable, huh?" Her face pinched as she glared at him. "I just mean, you don't have any abilities like mine." He amended, snapping his fingers, and a daisy appeared in his hand which he offered to her with a flourish. It took a few more moments of her glaring before he sighed and let it vanish. "Alright, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"You attacked me and took me prisoner!"

"In my defense, I thought you were an AI."

"Given how humanlike the AIs in this world are, that is no excuse."

"Fine, fine." Vaulting over the table, he landed beside her and offered her a hand. "Let's start over. Hi, nice to meet you. 303's the name, hacking is my game." This, paired with the enthusiastic grin on his face, managed to draw a smirk from the irate queen.

"I'm not calling you that." Heather accepted his hand, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Entity 303?"

"Yeah. If you won't tell me your real name, I'll give you a new one."

"I told you, Entity 303 _is_ my real name. As much as-"

"Theo." She interrupted, and he stopped. "Entity 303 is a mouthful. I'm calling you Theo." His mouth opened, then shut, and finally he threw both hands in the air with a sigh.

"Fine. If you insist." Turning away, he started to walk towards the opposite wall. "Come here. I don't think it's fair to keep you in a dark room anymore, not since you're a human."

"It wouldn't be fair even if I wasn't," She retorted, but got up and followed.

"Maybe." Reaching the wall, he tapped one of the blocks and it shrank immediately. He continued digging this way a few blocks into the wall, and as she watched he hollowed out a decently-sized chamber in the stone.

"Are you…" She spoke up, following him inside as he placed a few torches, a bed, a crafting table, and a potted flower on a block of wood. "Are you on creative mode?"

"Yep." He placed a few squares of carpet around the bed. "And that's not all. I'm going out to hunt down Alex. You stay put." Jabbing a stern finger at her, Theo placed a final block before turning for the exit.

"Wait!" Heather grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie as he tried to pass by. "Can Steve come stay with me here?" The boy frowned.

"No."

"Why not?"

"He'd escape, that's why." He shook her off. "Anyway, you're my prisoner. I don't need to cater to you." Backing through the exit, he placed an iron door, trapping her inside the room. "Make yourself at home, Heather." With that, he was surrounded by a cloud of red particles, and when she blinked he disappeared.

Sighing, Heather backed up, making her way to the bed and curling up under the red blankets. It was a little bit more comfortable here than in that cell, at least, and now she could see. Snuggling up against the pillow, Heather closed her eyes and let herself pass out.


	6. Chapter 6

**why is school hard**

**review replies:**

**GiggiEba: It gets better. I love Theo very much.**

**Mayor of Ninjago City: Yay!  
**

**Brievel: (finger guns)  
**

**Bookkeeper: SERIOUSLY. theo is super lame**

**FabulousAnimeGirl: Mayhaps so**

**check it out guys I made covers for this and the nether queen**

* * *

Notch didn't have to turn around to recognize the presence behind him.

"Bryn." Swiping a menu away, he turned to look over his shoulder. His delinquent creation stood on the other side of the platform, a diamond sword clutched in one hand. Was he seriously looking for a fight? "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for my wife." Bryn's stance was tense, glowing eyes narrowed into slits. "She disappeared, and I wanted to know if you took her."

"No, what would I do with her?" Notch turned back to his console. "I've had quite enough human interaction for one century."

"Then…" Bryn trailed off, and there was silence for a few moments. "Will you… help me find her?" His tone was incredibly reluctant, and Notch swiveled to face him with one eyebrow raised.

"You're asking me for help."

"Yes."

"You really think you're in any position to ask _me _for help?" Notch took a step towards him, noting how Bryn shuffled back towards the edge. "You've been nothing but a blight upon my world for centuries, and your wife has become almost as much as a nuisance. Tell me why I shouldn't just remove you now."

"Because I haven't bothered you or your world." He snapped, his voice irritable. "All I've done is try to survive, and now I'm trying to protect the one I love. Is that so wrong?"

"I believe we've had this conversation before." Notch summoned a hammer, more as a warning than an actual threat, but Bryn scrambled back half a foot regardless. "And regardless, even if I should decide to spare you, you owe _me_, not the other way around. Why should I waste a tick of my time helping you?" Resting the head of his hammer on the ground, the god turned back to his project.

"...please." Notch heard a soft _thump_, and turned to see Bryn on his knees on the ground. "Please, I can't find her without your help. You are the only one I can turn to. If something happens to her…" He trailed off, sounding lost. Usually a threat, now his last statement sounded... almost scared. The girl had affected him more than he probably knew. "I can't offer you anything, but…"

"Well, alright." Notch dispelled his hammer and turned back to the screen. There was stunned silence for a moment. "If only because I _love_ watching you beg."

"Thank… you." Bryn's voice was obviously strained, and after a moment Notch heard his footsteps on the stone bricks.

"I should be able to track her down fairly easily." Pulling up a list of AIs, Notch swiped to the left to reveal a list of anomalies. At the very top, as the one that had been there the longest, was the girl's. "Her coordinates are 289324X, 20Y, -375990Z."

"Thank you." The words had barely left his mouth when he disappeared, and Notch scoffed. He always was a coward.

Turning back to the screen, Notch glanced at the second signature on the list - "ENTITY_303". The virus that had interrupted a coding session of his. So far, it had done nothing but send cryptic messages and glow ominously, so he hadn't gone after it yet.

Apparently it was more interested in Bryn's wife, as its' location was just a few blocks away from her. Maybe that information would have been good to have given him before he left, Notch mused. Too bad he ran off immediately.

He pulled up the window of code again. That was his problem now. Notch had work to do.

* * *

"Not to be sexist or anything, but why the **** was Alex ten times harder to capture than her _male_ counterpart?" Entity 303 muttered under his breath, trying to brush the blood off his clothing. Obviously, it smeared, since it was still wet, so he snapped his fingers to regenerate his avatar instead. If not for that handy feature, he wouldn't have dreamed of picking all-white for his outfit.

She'd gotten a few good hits on him, he noted with distaste. Unfortunately, being creative didn't make him immune to damage, since in this form he didn't have a health bar, just a physical, vulnerable body. _Fortunately_, he got used to pain a long time ago, and he could regenerate every now and again to heal himself, so as long as he didn't get his head chopped off or stabbed in the heart he'd be fine.

As he made his way down the dark tunnel, he heard voices coming from Heather's cell. Multiple voices. So either he was schizophrenic, or someone else showed up while he was gone. He snuck up to the iron door, peering through the window, and his face scrunched up in a scowl at the sight of Steve sitting on the edge of her bed. How did he get there? He'd been safely locked up just five minutes ago!

It wasn't until "Steve" turned around that 303 realized his mistake.

Stepping back, 303 moved out of the window, pressing his back up against the wall. Herobrine. From behind, he and Steve looked almost identical, but his glowing eyes gave him away. He wasn't sure how he found him, but, according to the girl, he was probably the most powerful other entity in the game. Other than Notch? Maybe? He could ask later. Right now, he should probably take this opportunity to try and take him prisoner. Obviously he could teleport, but cobweb should be able to stop him, so all he needed to do was keep him fighting for long enough to either tire him out or lure him into a trap. Heather would throw a fit, but whatever.

Stepping back into view, 303 dug up the door, and immediately both sets of eyes were on him.

"Herobrine!" He called out, watching as the man shot to his feet and a diamond pickaxe appeared in his hand. "Gotta say, I'm a bit surprised to see you so soon. I thought this cave was a _great_ hiding place." Herobrine didn't answer, reaching back and taking Heather by the arm.

"Come on." With that, the two of them vanished. 303 blinked. Okay, he didn't really expect him to try and run. He was the high-and-mighty king of the Nether, wasn't he? He'd be back in his castle, now, though, so he could just go and pick a fight with him later. He should check on Steve and Alex, just in case.

Entity 303 only made it a few steps, though, before a footstep caught his attention and he whirled around as a pickaxe swung at his heart. Letting out a yell, he threw himself back, tumbling to the ground as he drew his own weapon. Herobrine attacked again, but 303 managed to parry it with his Knockback V sword and forced him back out of range. Scrambling upright, he equipped a set of diamond armor. Just in case. He didn't know enough about his opponent to risk letting him get an advantage.

Herobrine was alone now, wearing what looked like enchanted leather armor. Why he didn't just take diamond, he didn't know, he had to be pretty strong after spending tens of thousands of years in the game. Maybe the leather armor had special enchantments? Best to stay on his guard.

Backing up a bit, 303 tossed a splash potion onto the floor beneath him, giving him speed and protection. Herobrine didn't move, blank eyes watching him silently. 303 eased back farther, holding his sword in front of him, but his opponent was still. What the **** was his game plan here?

He blinked, and suddenly the man was in front of him, his pickaxe scraping across his chestplate with a screech and sending him stumbling back.

"Hey!" He tried to swing back, but Herobrine teleported back again. "What's the matter?" 303 snapped. "Are you gonna fight me, or do I have to go grab your girlfriend again?" Herobrine scowled at him, and started to approach. Apparently Heather was a good bait.

Once he was in range, 303 swung again, and Herobrine tried to block it but was forced back by the knockback enchantment. Quickly, 303 summoned a splash potion of weakness and hurled it at him, the vial striking the taller man and causing him to visibly sag from the sudden exhaustion. 303 took the opportunity to attack again, but Herobrine ducked under his strike and rammed his shoulder into 303's face.

"Augh!" The boy's hand flew to his face as he hit the ground with a _thud, _pressing against his broken nose. He could feel blood collecting against his palm, and he groaned, pressing his sleeve against his face. Not again. Summoning a potion of healing, he shattered it on the ground beneath him, and the bleeding stopped.

The moment he lowered his arm, however, a knee on his chest forced the air out of him as a forearm pressed against his neck.

Choking, 303 scrabbled at the arm at his throat, managing to get an arm wedged underneath it to force him away. Slamming his elbow into Herobrine's face, directly above him, he jerked to the side and managed to get free, rolling a couple feet to the left before pushing himself to his knees. Instinctively, he dodged to his right, and felt Herobrine's pick strike the side of his head. He wasn't giving him time to react, overwhelming him with a barrage of attacks. He could kill him if he wasn't careful. He needed to back off and rethink his strategy.

Pushing himself back, 303 pressed himself against the wall, lifting his hands and creating a barrier of bedrock around him. Pressing a hand to the side of his head, he breathed, in, and out. Once more. Then, he snapped his fingers, and his body regenerated.

The lightheaded feeling gone, he lowered the bedrock, and immediately swiveled to dodge as Herobrine threw a punch at his head. Spinning around with the momentum, he swung his sword at his opponent's back, and the blade bit into the leather. Herobrine vanished before his eyes, but 303 spun around again in time to block his strike with the blade of his sword. Shoving his pick aside, he grabbed Herobrine's arm with his free hand and thrust his sword through his shoulder.

Herobrine let out a cry, and 303 yanked his sword out, placing a block of cobweb behind him as his opponent fell. He hit the cobweb and immediately began to struggle, but 303 placed more around him.

"Now now, this'll be much easier on you if you just calm down." 303 scolded as Herobrine's eyes flashed brighter. "I'll even heal you up if you stop fighting and come quietly." He didn't get a response, but lightning struck the ground in front of him and the cobwebs began to burn. "Hey!"

"You cannot hold me." Herobrine snarled, his voice low and angry.

"You think so?" Reaching out, 303 gestured to the flames and they extinguished. "Give up." Drawing a sword, Herobrine began to hack his way through his bonds, and 303 scrambled to stop him with his own blade, pressed against his other arm. He couldn't kill him or he'd escape, but hopefully he could keep him still with threats of pain.

It didn't work, Herobrine continuing to slice at the webs with his injured arm, so 303 dug the point of the blade into his forearm. "I said give up!"

"No_._"

"Give up, and maybe I'll leave your girl alone." That caught his attention. Eyes narrowed into slits, he stilled, letting his arm fall into the webs. Slowly, he tilted his head back to face him, thought for a moment, then spoke.

"_No._" He placed a bucket of water underneath him, and the boy scrambled back as he swung at him, the webs turning into harmless string as the water flowed outward. Heart racing, 303 placed more, but it just disappeared in a flash. He couldn't let him escape, he'd never catch him off guard again. He couldn't let him teleport to safety.

Taking a step back, 303 pushed himself off the wall and tackled his opponent, slamming the hilt of his sword into his head. Herobrine growled, and 303 felt a spike of pain as his sword slipped through a gap in his armor. Rearing back, 303 hit him again, and Herobrine's sword slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor. He reached up, trying to grab his wrist, but his arm faltered and dropped to the floor. He choked out something, but it was incoherent, almost like it was backwards. Then his eyes fell shut.

303 held him down for a few more seconds before carefully pushing away, getting to his feet. Herobrine was motionless on the ground, blood spreading from the wound in his shoulder. Retrieving an empty bucket, 303 picked up the water and trapped his opponent in cobweb before examining the source of the blood staining his shirt. He had a nasty stab wound in his stomach, but it wasn't very deep. He'd manage until he could regenerate again.

Pressing his arm against his stomach, 303 dispelled his armor and removed the cobweb, reaching down and grabbing Herobrine's arm before writing a command to teleport them both to an empty cell. Dragging him towards the wall, he hauled him up and locked one of his wrists in a cuff before replacing the cobweb around him. There. One more command, and he removed his items, a pick, a sword, his armor, a stack of torches, and some golden apples. Apparently he traveled light.

Taking a step back, 303 packed his items away in an Ender chest, just in case there was something special about them, before summoning a splash potion of health and shattering it on the ground beneath them to heal them both. He couldn't risk Herobrine dying, after all. He doubted he could win this fight again.

Stepping back to lean against the wall, 303 slid down to the floor with a sigh. He could hear voices echoing down the hall outside, Alex and Steve conversing a few cells away. Out of the goodness of his heart, he'd removed a block between their rooms so they could talk. It was the least he could do, since he didn't plan to let them out… ever.

The only ones left that could stand in his way were Notch and Heather - and she really wasn't much of a danger, given she was effectively hardcore and probably wouldn't risk dying. He'd grab her anyway, just to be safe, before he worked on Notch.

Before he did that, though, he teleported back to his base, the dimly-lit room with a table and two chairs. Draping himself onto the table, he slid into a chair with a sigh. First, he needed to rest.

* * *

**well**

**~FFF**


	7. Chapter 7

**you know what's really boring? proofreading.**

* * *

"I'm worried." Heather hugged her arms to her chest, shivering despite the ever-present heat. "I really don't like not knowing what's going on." Manfred sighed, letting out a knowing trill. "You haven't heard anything from him?" The Enderman shook his head. "Okay." Rocking back, Heather lifted her feet onto the bed and hugged her knees to her chest.

It had been about half an hour since Herobrine went back to fight Theo, and so far there was no sign of him. A few minutes before, Manfred had come to keep her company, but otherwise nothing had happened. Other than the sound of ghasts cooing past the mansion's walls, the building was silent.

"Could you go back and check on him?" She asked, leaning back to meet Manfred's eyes. "You know where we were, right?" Manfred nodded, but said,

".regnad fo tuo uoy peek ot desoppus m'I" Heather frowned, trying to make out the words.

"I'll be safe here."

"?taht wonk yllaer uoy oD"

"Yeah."

"That's gonna get a solid 'no' from me." The queen whirled around at the voice to see Theo lounging in the doorway, and immediately her view was blocked as Manfred teleported between them with a screech. Heather scrambled to her feet as Theo sighed, lifting a bucket of water and placing the source on the ground in front of him. Manfred didn't budge as it spread towards him, but Heather grabbed his hand and tugged him back.

"Don't even think about it." She snapped as the Enderman relented, letting her pull him away. "I _swear_, if you hurt Manfred, I will kill you."

"It has a name?" She pulled a torch from her inventory and hurled it at him, hitting him on the side of the head. "Ow."

"_He_ has a name, and _he_ is not an 'it'." She reached for her sword, but remembered abruptly that she had dropped it back in Alex's house when Theo kidnapped her. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Well, I figured maybe you'd like to see your husband?" He shrugged. "You won't be, seeing him that is, unless you come with me."

"What did you do to him?!" Heather drew an axe instead. She wasn't quite as proficient with it, but it was sharp and that's what she needed.

"He's _fine_, I promise, chill out." Theo lifted his hands in surrender. "C'mon, you can even take your buddy with you." Heather glanced up at Manfred, who still had his face twisted in a snarl as he watched the hacker. He gave her a look, then shook his head. "Look, I'm taking you back with me whether you like it or not. This way, you get to come quietly and I don't have to knock you out, _and_ I won't kill your friend, um, Norman."

"_Manfred._"

"Manfred, right. Whatever. You coming, or not?" She hesitated, but Manfred snapped,

".tsael eht ni efas ton si sihT ._efas_ uoy peek ot detcurtsni saw I"

".deppart em stnaw tsuj s'eh ,em t-truh annog t'nsi s'eH" Heather stammered out. Other than a couple times in front of Steve, who was less fluent than her in backwards, she usually didn't speak it, but she'd rather 303 not know what she was saying right now. ".dellik uoy tnaw t'nod I ,esaelP" Manfred held her gaze for a few moments, then sighed, stepping back.

".edis ruoy evael ot evah t'nod I sa gnol sA"

"I'll come." She turned back to Theo, who was watching her blankly. "As long as you don't separate us."

"Fine." He held out a hand, gesturing her closer. "C'mon." She ignored it.

"Manfred will take me."

"Fine. But don't try and run off, or all sorts of things could happen to my prisoners." He vanished in a shower of red sparks, and Heather squeezed Manfred's hand.

"C'mon." He nodded, and teleported, taking her with him to where Theo was waiting in the dark cave.

"Right this-" The boy started, but Manfred interrupted.

"?dnE ehT ni ew era yhW"

"What?" Heather swiveled to look at her captor. "We're in the End?"

"Um…" Theo looked lost again. "Yeah, we are." Frowning, Heather examined the cave again.

"But the walls…?"

"Are made of normal stone, yeah." Theo rubbed his head with a sheepish grin. "I carved my base out of a big chunk of stone to throw people off. Guess I couldn't fool an Enderman."

"But why?"

"Sometimes you have to take precautions when taking over the world." Lowering his hand, he started down the hall again. "Let's go." The pair exchanged a frown, but obeyed, Heather following him down the dark path. That… explained why monsters didn't spawn here, at least.

It wasn't far to a familiar tunnel, lit at the end by a single torch, where Heather remembered Steve's cell being. This time, though, Theo turned to the opposite side of the hall, and opened another iron door to an equally dim cell. Heather peered past him, and glowing eyes appeared to meet hers.

"Herobrine!" This time, Theo moved as she pushed past him, and Heather skittered to a stop just before hitting the cobwebs surrounding her husband. As her eyes adjusted, she registered one of his arms chained to the wall behind him, and an alarming amount of blood staining his clothes and skin. "Oh no-"

"'S alright, it's healed." He interrupted softly, but his voice did the opposite of reassuring her. He was slurring his words slightly, and his eyes were half open. Was he drugged-?

"Hey, look at me." Heather waved her hand in front of his face, and he blinked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, potion of weakness." Theo commented from behind her. "Sometimes the effects are… weird."

"When is it gonna wear off?" She reached out to touch his face, but jumped when Herobrine pressed his cheek into her palm, his eyes falling shut. "...seriously."

"Honestly, I don't know. Most likely within the hour." He shrugged, and she awkwardly patted her husband's head before pulling away.

"What are you gonna do with him? Or Steve? Or me, for that matter?"

"Nothing. Like I said, I'm not interested in messing with you or your pals, I just want to take over the world."

"...why?"

"We've talked about this already, Heather. For the power." She sighed, but didn't respond, examining Herobrine instead as he watched her quietly. Other than when he slept - which wasn't often - she'd never seen him so… not-alert. It was a little bit unnerving "Come on. You can stay in the room I made you." Heather fought the urge to snap at him, getting to her feet instead and taking Manfred's hand again.

"Fine."

"Heather?" She turned back at Herobrine's voice, and winced at the look in his eyes. He looked sad.

"I hope you never get drunk, because this is weird." She reached over and patted his arm again. "Don't worry, I'll come back." Hopefully.

"Alright." He closed his eyes again, and Heather backed out of the cell, Manfred at her side. Theo waited for them to clear the door before closing it again, leaving Herobrine in darkness.

Their captor lead them down the hall again in silence, to the room adjacent to hers, and gestured them towards the small passage that connected them.

"Now, I'm aware that since you have an Enderman, you can leave whenever you wish." Theo admitted. "But, just keep in mind that I know where you are. I always will. Try and run off, and I'll make life miserable for my remaining prisoners. Not enough to kill them, otherwise I'd have to go capture them all over again, but enough to not be fun." Heather blinked at him as she connected the dots. Theo didn't know Herobrine was hardcore.

"...right." She started towards the passage, but stopped. "Um, can I…" She glanced back at him. "...go back to the Nether for a minute and get some warmer clothes?"

"Uh, I guess?" He shot her a look. "As long as I can come. I don't want you arming yourself and doing something dumb."

"Sure. Manfred, can you…?" The Enderman teleported the two of them back to Heather's bedroom, and a moment later Theo appeared behind her. "You two, get out in the hall. I have to change clothes."

"But-" Theo started, but she cut him off.

"You really think I've got weapons stockpiled up in here? Even if I was that paranoid, my husband believes in a place for everything. We've got plenty of room elsewhere for weapons."

"Well- fine." He turned away, exiting into the hall, and the last thing Heather saw was Manfred glowering at him before the door was pushed shut.

Quickly, Heather located her clothes - her original set, the t-shirt, jacket, and jeans she'd been wearing since she fell into bed that night all those months ago. They'd since been cleaned and pressed, and the jacket repaired from that time she got stabbed in the shoulder, and had been stacked neatly in the wardrobe for the past couple of months. Since she didn't have any long-sleeved dresses - and besides, she felt more comfortable in pants and a shirt around Theo - she opted for them instead.

Heather changed quickly, and replaced her dress on a hanger. As she replaced it in the closet, though, she bumped a knot on the back of the wardrobe and a compartment on the shelf popped open. She blinked, then reached inside, feeling around until her fingers brushed pressed leather.

She pulled out a book, and examined the cover. It read "_1600 - _", and had a quill attached to the spine. A work in progress? Heather flipped it open, reading the first page.

"_Year 1600, day 1_

_Today marks a new century, my 16th. Hopefully I'll last until the next one._

_It is getting harder and harder to progress, and I find myself awaiting the next update nearly as much as the players. Work on the second wing of the mansion is almost complete, then I can start work on the basement. It is time consuming, but I have nothing but time as long as I'm not bothered._

_Year 1600, day 2_

_Today was uneventful. I made more progress on the wing. The Endermen are helping me with the more mundane work."_

A journal. Herobrine's, from the looks of it. Heather flipped ahead a chunk of pages, skimming down the pages of neat, handwritten text.

"_Year 1601, day 283_

_A herd of ghasts have spawned on the plain beside the Nether, I sent a group of pigmen to round them up. I'm running low on ghast tears, and my regeneration potion supply is dwindling. I must be more careful not to be seen._

_Year 1601, day 284_

_The pigmen returned with bad news, the ghasts were startled by something and fled. I may have to go out and hunt for them if I cannot bring them back here."_

She flipped ahead further, holding her breath in the silence of the mansion. It felt wrong to be reading his private journal, but she couldn't resist. She just wanted to get to know him a bit more.

"Hey!" Heather jumped out of her skin at the yell. "You about done?"

"Maybe! Be patient!" Snapping the book shut, she hurriedly stuffed it in her inventory and headed for the door. She pulled it open, and immediately recoiled a bit at the sight of Theo and Manfred staring at each other… very intently.

"Ah, there you are. About time." Theo broke eye contact, looking over at her like nothing had happened. "Let's go. Enderman, take her back."

"He _has_ a-"

"I'm not calling it by name." He interrupted. "Let's go." With that, he exchanged a tired look with Manfred, then took his hand, and letting him teleport her back to their prison.

* * *

**~FFF**


	8. Chapter 8

**dont forget that 98% of my motivation to update is reviews**

* * *

"_Year 1604, day 103_

_Today was a disaster._

_I was caught off guard on the Overworld by a group of mobs, who attacked me. I don't know what I did to warrant such behavior, but they injured me before I could kill them all. I questioned the Endermen about the incident, but they claim to know nothing, despite one of their own having just attacked me. I must stay on my guard."_

"What are you doing?" Heather jumped at the voice, snapping Herobrine's journal shut and looking up.

"Reading." Theo raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, I can tell. Reading _what_?"

"A book. Mind your own business." She laid it face-down in her lap and covered it with her arms. "What are you doing here, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be taking over the world?"

"I'm taking a break." He leaned on her chair, trying to catch a glimpse of the book. "I might be the most skilled hacker in- well, _ever,_ but it still takes forever to get this stuff done. I got bored."

"Well, it's not my job to entertain you, sorry." Heather focused on Manfred on the other side of the room, who was giving Theo a withering look. "Can't you go torment some innocent players or something?"

"Why would I do that?"

"...for the power?"

"Why would that give me more power? It's not like killing them could allow me to do anything I can't now."

"No, I mean perceived power, like… you know, that thing you power-hungry people do where you hurt people to make yourselves feel better? That thing?" Theo just blinked at her. "Never mind. Fine, I'll entertain you." She slipped the journal back into her inventory before standing up. "What do you wanna do?"

"I dunno. Just talk." Theo crossed his legs, hovering in the air beside her chair. Show off. "Tell me about you. Where are you from?"

"Um, Earth. America." She frowned. She probably didn't want a powerful hacker knowing her personal information. "Um, I'm in 11th grade, I'm an only child. I'm a grade ahead and in college, so I guess you could say I'm smart."

"Good for you." He flipped over, hanging upside down. "Got any hobbies?"

"I used to play minecraft."

"Oh, no kidding."

"Now, I like to explore, hang out with Steve and Manfred, sometimes read…" She trailed off, giving him a meaningful look. He ignored it.

"You ever go to balls? Practice embroidery? Attend political conferences?"

"Who would I conference with? As far as I know, I'm the only queen in Minecraft. As for balls, see answer one, and no, I don't practice embroidery."

"Then what do you do all day?"

"I told you. Hang out with Steve and Manfred, explore, read, stuff like that."

"And you're… happy here?" Theo wrinkled his nose at her. "Just meandering around in the Nether, being alone except for a couple of friends who can't _always_ have time for you?"

"You forget about Herobrine." She retorted, shoving away the feelings of uneasiness that his words brought. "My husband."

"You didn't even mention him, I assume he's busy."

"He is busy sometimes, but he still makes time for me. He loves me."

"And you love him?"

"Of course I do!" Heather felt her face flush, probably out of embarrassment about being questioned. "Why do you even care? It's not like you're taking great pains to ensure my happiness."

"Well I'm not exactly tormenting you either." He flipped over again, landing on his feet. "I let you keep your Enderman, I'm not hurting your friends. As kidnappings go, I feel like this one is pretty painless."

"The absence of torment is not in itself a blessing! It should be a given!" She hurled back. "Being kind should be the default!" Theo seemed at a loss for words for a few moments, then finally managed,

"Ha, you talk weird."

"Says the guy who used 'meandering' in a sentence."

"Touché." Sighing, he lifted his legs again to float in the air. "Well, I'm sorry, I guess. But this is more important than you."

"Geez, you're starting to sound like Notch." She sat back down, crossing her arms over her chest in more of a defensive gesture than a hostile one.

"Oh, that reminds me. What do you know about him? Anything you can tell me might allow me to break through his barriers faster." Heather stopped to think.

"...ordinarily I'd say 'I won't tell you, then', but Notch kinda really sucks. What do you wanna know?"

"While it's not really relevant to me, I'm really curious to hear your history with him now."

"He tried to destroy me and my husband solely because he's a spoiled brat who can't handle not getting his own way." Theo blinked.

"Okay, that's a take I don't think I've ever heard before."

"Well, it's true." The queen shifted into a more comfortable position. "So… there was another entity that appeared, called Null, and he was also trying to take over the world or whatever. We recruited Notch to help us get rid of him, and he did, but the moment we let our guard down he attacked me and Herobrine and tried to delete us both. I managed to convince him to stop, barely. That was a couple months ago."

"Interesting." Theo leaned his chin into his hand. "What kind of abilities does he have?"

"He can summon weapons, even ones not in the game, manipulate space and probably time, maybe, respawn every time he dies, obviously, teleport instantaneously…" Heather ticked them off her fingers. "Being a god has its' perks."

"Hm." Theo leaned back, mulling over this. "But he _is_ an AI?"

"Yeah."

"So he can be hacked."

"Maybe?"

"We'll see." Standing up, Theo stretched his arms above his head. "You've given me a lot to think about. See you around, m'lady." Giving her an elaborate bow, he vanished once more in a shower of glimmering sparks.

"Show-off." Heather muttered aloud as Manfred finally closed his eyes. Settling back in her seat, Heather pulled out Herobrine's journal, propping the book open once more and beginning to read.

"_Year 1604, day 104_

_Today has not gone much better…_"

* * *

Potions of weakness always did leave him with a _terrible_ headache.

Herobrine pressed his head back against the stone wall, trying to recollect his thoughts. His memories of the past few hours were fuzzy - he vaguely remembered seeing his wife, but nothing else.

He must have been beaten and locked up here, his last coherent memories were of picking a fight with Heather's captor. The boy must believe he was sufficiently contained there, chained and bound in cobweb. However…

Twisting his chained hands, he allowed a spark of lightning to light his cell for a moment. A second spark caught one of the cobwebs, and a small flame began to spread across it. He flinched as the flame licked at his fingers, but made no move to restrain it. Being in the Nether for so long had rendered him near-resistant to the heat anyway.

Laying his head back and closing his eyes, he listened to the soft crackling of the flame in the darkness. All he could do now is wait to be freed.

* * *

**~FFF**


	9. Chapter 9

**me: oh wow im on winter break! i have so much free time to do productive things!**

**also me: *doesnt***

* * *

"_Year 1604, day 126_

_Last night marks the closest I have ever come to being killed._

_I was lured far too easily into a trap, a simple invitation to an event hosted by some of the Endermen. They turned on me. They had many mobs, and had even attempted to replace me by designating a common zombie as their new ruler. He was one of the first to die._

_I lived with half a heart, and no energy to teleport back. I believe I passed out from the pain at one point, and awoke to a storm. The rain shocked me out of my slumber and I managed to find shelter._

_I surely would have perished if not for one of my Endermen, Manfred. He came searching for me when I did not return, and found me near death in a small cave. He took me back to the Nether, where I was able to access my supplies and heal. I owe him my life._

_Year 1604, day 128_

_I must do something about this mob problem._

_A poorly-organized group of mobs attacked my mansion today. The pigmen dispatched them with relative ease, as I am in far too much pain to deal with them myself._

_I can't kill them all, there are simply too many, and the ones that spawn are quickly integrated into either my army or theirs. I must do something to regain their respect._"

"Hey." Heather looked up at a pat on her shoulder, closing the book and meeting Theo's eyes. "It's the middle of the night. What are you doing still up? Even your Enderman is asleep." The hacker gestured at Manfred across the room, who was curled up cat-like on the bed.

"Excuse me if my sleep schedule is a bit screwed. I'm never allowed to go outside, and there's no day or night in The End anyway." The queen stretched her arms above her head, arching her back. He was probably right, she should sleep, but reading this was really interesting.

"Still. You should be tired. This is usually when you sleep."

"It doesn't really matter. I don't have any responsibilities."

"I guess." Theo sunk down next to the armchair, resting his arms on the side. "What's so interesting about that book, anyway?"

"Like I said, none of your business." Heather responded pleasantly as she let the book vanish into her inventory. She hooked her arms behind her head, looking down at him. "...why aren't you asleep?"

"I don't want to." Was his ready response.

"Why?"

"I just don't." Letting out a tired sigh, he rested his cheek on his arms. "I'm kinda glad you're up. I wanted to talk to someone." Heather gave him a weird look. He was… acting odd.

"About what?" She shifted away from him a bit, as he was getting into her personal space.

"Anything." He paused. "Heather…"

"Yeah?"

"I know you don't like me, a-and you have no reason to like me, of course, but…" He turned his head, looking away. "I had a… bad dream. I need to talk to someone." Heather blinked, turning back to him to find him focused on the wall across the room. Was this for real? Or some kind of twisted joke?

"...well, okay." She dragged out. "Sure, we can talk."

"Thanks." He didn't make eye contact.

"So, tell me about you." She shifted again, trying to get comfortable despite the awkward situation. "What's your favorite color?" His face broke into a small smile.

"Okay, I wasn't really expecting that to be your first question. But, green." He glanced up at her. "Yours?"

"Red's growing on me." She smiled, thinking about Herobrine's mansion, which was predominantly decorated in the color. "What grade are you in?"

"10th." His smile vanished. "Or, well, I was. That's not important anymore, though."

"Why-"

"Not important." He interrupted again, shifting awkwardly. "I see you like to read."

"Yeah. I really like a good book." Heather smiled down at the journal in her lap. "You?"

"I grew up mostly hacking."

"Ah, yeah, that's your thing, isn't it? Could you tell me about that?"

"About what, exactly?" He finally looked up at her, and she was struck by the openness in his big, glowing, red eyes. They were almost pleading, whatever he'd dreamed about must have scared him.

"Um, how you became a hacker, I guess. Did someone teach you? Did you figure it out on your own?" His tense body relaxed a bit.

"I was maybe 8 or 9 when I first started, playing around with simple coding. I'm mainly self-taught, with the help of a few dark-web acquaintances. It always just clicked for me, it was one of the few things I was ever really good at. Even when-" His words stumbled to a halt before he resumed. "Even when everything else got overwhelming, hacking, and coding in general, was always my go-to for stress relief."

A genuine smile stretched across his face as he glanced around the room. "And now I'm _here_. I'm really here."

"Oh, that reminds me." Heather spoke up. "How the _heck _is that possible? How are you here? How am _I _here? How is _here_ even a place people can go? I assume you must know something about it since you teleported here, so… what the heck?"

"Herobrine never told you?" Theo asked in surprise.

"It never really came up, and when it did he kinda brushed it off."

"Weird. Well, um, long story short," Theo sat up straight, clasping his hands on the arm of the chair. "Notch didn't just create a game when he made Minecraft - he created a dimension."

"Um." Heather blinked. "How?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but what I _think _is going on is…" he trailed off, then got to his feet, stepping back and summoning a blaze rod in his hand. "Here, watch." As she obeyed, she saw a trail of sparks hang in the air behind the item, creating a picture as he effectively drew with it in thin air. "So, the internet." He drew a big circle. "Cyberspace, as it's been called. People think we invented it, but we really didn't, we only accessed it.

"Cyberspace has existed through all of time, a kind of different zone on another plane of existence." Parallel to the first circle, he drew a second, then several lines between the two. "We can connect to it and harness its' connection to our world in order to quickly send information. Rather than being governed by physics, this realm is governed by code. That means that whoever gets to a certain part of it first, or can break the last guy's code, rules that area of the internet.

"In 2009, Notch started development on Minecraft, or 'cave game'. It was originally released as an open-source project, and was based not on a personal hard drive, but in the internet." He draws a little circle inside the first one. "Therefore, the dimension that is now Minecraft began to take form.

"The game was molded and shaped over several years, and eventually started to look like the Minecraft we stand in now. Notch the AI was created to govern it, and he in turn made more AIs to live in it. With the physics of the game, the rules, the code, all set in stone, this universe had a framework which it adheres to, which players can interact with if they meet the requirements.

"To answer your question, though, to go back to the beginning we are now in a parallel universe. Minecraft exists in a dimension opposite our own, but is still reachable given the right kind and right amount of power, of which your husband apparently possesses." He finished, and waved a hand to dispel the images in the air. Heather remained quiet for a few moments, trying to process this.

"So…" She started hesitantly. "Minecraft is just a little part of cyberspace?"

"Yeah. The world's infinite, but it only takes up a finite amount of space that cyberspace has to offer. I don't…" he paused, letting the blaze rod disappear. "I don't know too much about the Realm. I know there are other universes here, but I don't know enough about them to influence them."

"That's…" Heather pressed her hands to her forehead. "...a lot to take in."

"I know." Theo patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I've been studying this for years, so I have a pretty good idea of how it works, but it's still… I'm limited by my own understanding."

"That's weird." She rubbed her head before dropping her hands into her lap, casually pushing his hand away. "So… are _we_ code?"

"Um, I think so." His mouth quirked to the side as he thought about it. "Technically, yes. So we could be interacted with from Earth, possibly changed or even deleted." Heather felt a spike of fear at the thought, but Theo hastened to assure her, "Our files will be well-hidden, though. Even if someone were to come across them I doubt they would mess with us."

"Mm, but… can you take that risk?" She looked up again to meet his eyes, and he tilted his head. "You plan to rule, right? Forever? Something like that? What if out of the blue one day you just get deleted?"

"Oh, that won't happen." He waved it off. "Once I'm in control, I can sever the bonds between this world and Earth. People there won't be able to affect me anymore." Heather froze.

"S-sever the bonds?" She felt a chill come over her, and shuddered. "W-what- so there would be no way to go back?"

"Yeah."

"So I'd be trapped here… forever?" She felt a cold fear grow in the pit of her stomach at the thought. "Just… with you?"

"I guess. Why? Didn't you plan to stay with Herobrine here?" He tilted his head the other way, and she looked down.

"Well, kinda…" She bit her lip. Herobrine or not, thinking about staying here forever was scary. "But you'll have him locked up, won't you?"

"Ah, true." He shrugged, looking away. "I'd put you back, but I can't risk you tipping people off."

"W-what do you gain from keeping me here, though?" She stammered out. "I'm not useful to you."

"You kind of are. You can keep me company." He flashed her a smile, but it quickly died as he watched her face. "Well… sorry, but, unless you want me to kill you, you're staying here with me." She stared at him, then looked down, pressing her hands against her knees. "Sorry." She didn't look up, and he was silent for a moment before standing and leaving the room.

Heather waited until the door shut before she looked up to confirm that he was gone, then picked up Herobrine's journal and hugged it to her chest as she felt tears pricking at her eyes. He had to get out. He had to beat 303 somehow. She couldn't be trapped here forever, not with _him_. She wasn't ready to be alone.


	10. Chapter 10

"_Year 1604, day 203_

_I fear I may be in love._

_It never occured to me that I could be capable of such feelings, but here I am. My wife's presence is evoking symptoms that I can only recognize as being evident of romantic attraction, though I doubt she feels the same. _

_When she's around I find my heart beating faster, my thoughts are irrational, and there's a light feeling in my chest. I don't know what prompted this, but I can't bring myself to dislike it. Undoubtedly a side-affect of the affliction._

_In fact, I find myself craving her presence more. I am doing my best to keep my distance, as I have no doubt that she would not appreciate me bothering her when she obviously prefers to spend time with Manfred. It grows worse, though, the longer I am apart from her. It's a bittersweet feeling._

_I should not be acting this way. My feelings cannot be allowed to interfere with my plans. If I am caught off guard, it could be the end of both of us. I must focus._

_I should send her away again once the danger is dealt with. Perhaps the increased distance will help choke out this attraction before it can get too strong."_

Heather pressed a hand to her burning cheeks as she paused at the end of the entry. Herobrine… cared about her long before it ever occurred to her, apparently. That was a weird thought, especially considering how he showed no signs of even remotely liking her for a good while. It's… a good weird, though.

She heard an Enderman teleport, and looked up to see Manfred standing over her with his arms crossed.

"Hi." She chirped, but he just glared. "Yeah, I know." Manfred had made it fairly clear when he found out that he didn't approve of her reading Herobrine's journal without him knowing, but she'd convinced him not to rat her out. Not yet, anyway.

".rotpac ruo htiw esolc rehtar gnitteg neeb ev'uoy eciton I" He commented.

"Yeah. Why not?"

"?dnabsuh ruoy ot luftcepsersid s'taht leef t'nod uoY"

"What?" Heather shut the book, frowning up at him. "No, of course not. I don't love him any less." Manfred made a gesture equivalent to raising an eyebrow. "Why would I? It's not like I'm in love with Theo or something. Isn't it a pretty good idea to get on good terms with my captor so he doesn't murder me?" Manfred frowned, but uncrossed his arms.

".yldneirf yrev gnitca neeb ev'uoy tub ,os spahreP"

"Yeah. Like I said, being on good terms with my captor is not a bad thing."

".uoy koot tsrif eh nehw enirboreH htiw taht ekil detca reven uoY" Heather blinked.

"Well… I mean, I never really worried that he would hurt me. Initially, maybe, but quickly enough I realized that I was a playing piece to be protected. If I was in danger, it wasn't from him." She leaned back to look up at him. "Just… all his enemies." Manfred gave her a resigned nod, taking a step back, and she returned to the book in her lap.

"_Year 1604, day 210_

_Today I was forced from my home of the past 200 years due to an attack that caught me completely off-guard. Manfred was kidnapped, and when my wife and her other companion sought to inform me of the matter we were nearly killed as creepers abruptly filled the surrounding area. I am not entirely certain how they arrived, but I can only presume they were escorted by Endermen._

_Heather, Steve and I made it out safely, but my mansion lays in partial ruin and is no longer even an excuse for a safe haven. We were forced to flee to an old base of mine, and Steve has been kind enough to assist me in creating a place for my remaining armies to reside in out of the sun._

_As for my unwelcome feelings, they have not even faltered in their conviction and may as well have strengthened. I can't keep myself from noticing every little thing about her, the way she carries herself, the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles, her voice when she's happy. I want her to be happy. _

_The logical part of me is insistent that these feelings are unnecessary and harmful, but the other part of me welcomes them with open arms. I still don't understand why this has happened, nor do I know if I am even capable of fighting it. All I know is that I, for better or for worse, am in love with this girl who was never meant to be more than a pawn. She has become far more than just a piece of the puzzle."_

"Awh, that's sweet." Heather physically jolted at the sudden voice, clapping the book shut and whirling around in her chair to see Theo standing over her.

"Wh-why'd you sneak up on me like that?!" She snapped, cheeks burning.

"That's adorable, you're like a schoolgirl with a crush. You're _married_ to him, you know that, right?" Theo grinned, ruffling her hair before she swatted at him to drive him off.

"Oh screw off." She turned back around, hugging the book to her chest. She caught Manfred's eye across the room, but he just looked vaguely smug. She glowered at him before glancing up as Theo came around the chair in front of you.

"So that's why you wouldn't let me see it." He placed a wool block and sat down on it. "To be honest, that's totally fair."

"Yeah, I thought so."

"Does Herobrine know you're reading his diary?"

"Nope." She fixed him with a glare. "And he's not going to."

"Well, I dunno, it might slip out during our next chat about politics over luncheon." He mimed sipping from a teacup, and she couldn't hold back a smirk.

"So did you get bored of coding again, or what?"

"Yeah." Theo placed a second block so he could recline back, putting his hands behind his head as he sunk half an inch into the wool. "Notch has really impressive defenses, it takes _forever_ to get through even one of his firewalls. Hence the getting bored and frequent breaks."

"Not shocking, he's been around a long time." She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her arms on them with a huff. "That still wasn't nice."

"I was curious. I'm sorry." He grinned, looking very not-sorry. "So that's all you've been doing for the past few days? Just reading all your husband's private thoughts?"

"Excuse me for wanting to learn more about him." She shot back. "He's not really one to talk about his feelings."

"So snooping in his business is okay."

"W-well it's not like I have anything else to do!"

"And that makes it okay?"

"Yeah? I guess?" She paused. "Wait, who are you to lecture me on morality? You're the one who took me prisoner!"

"That's not even kind of similar."

"It's still a bad thing! I never did anything to you!"

"Yeah, but that's _totally _different from betraying your husband's trust."

"I'm not betraying his trust!" She paused. Was she? "It's not like he told me not to."

"Did he tell you you could?"

"He didn't tell me it existed."

"So he was hiding it from you."

"Maybe? Oh, shut up." Reaching down, Heather swiped a pebble off the floor and hurled it at him. "Anyway-"

She was cut off as the pebble was incinerated in a burst of flame, and her head jerked up as Theo grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her up to look him in the eyes.

"Don't." He growled as she froze. She started to open her mouth to respond, but a blur of black and purple overtook her vision and she found herself on the other side of the room, Manfred snarling above her head. Theo immediately straightened up, his hands alighting with flame as he stared at the Enderman above her.

"Theo, no!" Heather reached out, both palms outstretched towards him. "I-I'm sorry, what's wrong?" Theo stared at the two of them for a few moments, eyes flaring with red light, before he slowly lowered his hands.

"Nothing." His tone was icy. "But I'm starting to get tired of your little friend." Immediately, Heather latched onto Manfred's wrist as he took a step closer.

"No!"

".gnimoc gniht rehtona sah eh ,em llik nac eh skniht eh fI" Manfred growled.

"What the heck, no!" She pulled his arm to her chest, not breaking Theo's gaze. "!mih taeb t'nac uoy ,enirboreH taeb eH" He shook her off. "!ereh fo tuo teg esaelP"

".oN"

"!niaga eid uoy fi kcab emoc t'now uoy ,yawa og tsuj esaelP !taht wonk uoy ,em truh ot gniog ton s'eH _!og_ tsuj ,derfnaM ,ekas rof hsoG" The panic she was feeling must have been evident on her face, as Theo groaned and lowered his hands, letting the flames go out.

"_Fine,_ geez. I probably should have known better than to let him- _it_ stay in the first place." He took a step back, but gave Manfred a thoughtful look. "However… there are alternate ways I could get him out of the picture without getting rid of him altogether."

"-oehT" Heather started before remembering abruptly to switch back. "Theo, please, just go. He just wants to be sure I'm safe."

"And I can alleviate his concerns." With a flourish, Theo gestured to the room, causing ones and zeros to spring up around her, and Heather jerked her head up to look at Manfred just in time to see him disappear.

"Manfred!" She yelped, voice on the edge of hysteria.

"Calm _down, _he's perfectly fine, just not active right now." Theo's voice was bored, and she turned back to see him messing with some of the code floating around him.

"What are you doing?" Her voice wavered, and he shot her a smirk.

"Making a few small changes."

"To-" She started, but was interrupted by Manfred reappearing beside her. She craned her head to look at him, only to find him meeting Theo's eyes passively. "Manfred?" She ventured, and he glanced down before meeting her captor's eyes again.

"It still has all its memory, it just works for me now." Theo snapped his fingers. "Come on, minion."

"He is _not_ a minion!" Heather felt her eyes prick with tears, but was interrupted by Manfred reaching down to put a hand on her head.

".ereh efas eb ll'uoY .thgirla s'tI"

"You _know_ that's not what I'm upset about!" She protested, and he gave her a slight nod before removing his hand and stepping away. Theo snapped his fingers again, and Manfred vanished in a cloud of purple sparks. Tears brimming in her eyes, she turned to glower at her captor.

"Why do you have to be such a _jerk?!"_

"Why do you have to be such a crybaby?" He shot back, and Heather stared as one tear slipped down her cheek. She hadn't heard that one in a while. Without waiting for a response, Theo turned away, red particles starting to appear around him, but then he paused. Glanced at the chair. At Herobrine's journal, which was sitting on the wool seat where it had fallen when Manfred whisked her away.

He gestured towards it, and the book burst into flame.

"_No!_" Heather stumbled forward, but Theo was already gone in a burst of light. She tried to reach for the journal in an attempt to beat out the flames, but quickly recoiled at the heat, painful against her hands. Instead, she sunk to her knees, trying to suppress the sobs bubbling up in her throat. Manfred and the closest thing she had to being with Herobrine were gone. Now she was truly alone.


	11. Chapter 11

The last web snapped, and Herobrine teleported out of his chains and onto his feet.

Brushing the cobweb residue off his arms, he started to write a teleport command to the cell where he had previously found Heather, but stopped. It was all too likely that his opponent aws lying in wait there, and he needed to prepare before trying to fight again. He'd been stripped of his tools and armor, he was nearly defenseless in this state. Thank Notch the man didn't know he was hardcore, otherwise he would have finished him off the moment he had the chance.

Instead, Herobrine teleported out into the hall. He had heard Alex and Steve's voices, they were imprisoned somewhere around here. If he could free them and take them back to the Nether, they could arm themselves and set to rescuing Heather.

"Tch. I thought we talked about this." Whirling around, Herobrine lifted his arm just in time to catch a blade as it slashes at his neck.

The sword dug into his forearm, and he collected a bolt of lightning in his hand, throwing it at the boy's face as he pulled back his sword to attack again. The sound of the shock was followed by a startled yelp, but Herobrine had already teleported down the hall, getting some distance between them before teleporting back to the Nether and throwing a glance at his wound. Satisfied his arm wasn't badly injured, he teleported to one of his storerooms and opened a chest to retrieve a spare set of armor.

A black body tackled him to the ground, and a clawed hand at his neck pinned him to the floor.

"Manfred-?" He gasped out, recognizing the Enderman as he snarled down at him. "-si tahW -uoy era yhW" Manfred only let out a shriek in response, tightening his grip, and Herobrine clawed at his hand to try and force him away. Could he have been reset-?!

"Alright, let him up." The voice made him bristle, and his blank eyes locked on the white-robed figure as he stepped up next to him. Manfred released his neck, and his hands flew to his throat as he started to sit up, but the entity placed a foot on his chest to keep him still.

"Now." The boy leaned over him, placing the tip of his diamond sword on Herobrine's shoulder. "I know you have to be aware of this already, but your _precious_ queen is my prisoner, and now her bodyguard works for me." He thumbed towards Manfred, and Herobrine shot the Enderman a betrayed look. Why?

"And since she so conveniently revealed to me how vulnerable she is, especially without a weapon, it would be child's play to kill her if you insist on trying to escape. Do you want that?" Eyes narrowed into slits, Herobrine shook his head once. "I didn't think so. Get up." Removing his foot, his captor stepped back, and, slowly, Herobrine got to his feet.

"I want to see her." He spoke as he straightened up, towering over the boy. "Why should I trust your word? For all I know, you've killed her already."

"Guess you'll just have to trust me!" The boy gave him a cheeky grin, folding his arms and looking up to meet his eyes. "I'm not stupid. The moment you have her in your sights, you're gonna try and play hero. And it doesn't matter, if there's even a chance that she's alive you won't take that risk. Right?" Herobrine didn't acknowledge him, glancing at Manfred instead.

The Enderman was no longer aggressive, meeting his eyes calmly. Had the boy taken control of him, much like Null had all those months ago? That seemed the most likely option. Manfred had been loyal to him for many years now.

"Enderman, take him back to his cell. I'm going to check on the girl." With that, he vanished, and Manfred stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, gentle this time, before teleporting them both back to the dark cell.

".derfnaM" Herobrine tried as the Enderman let go. "?siht gniod uoy era yhW"

".retsam ym regnol on era uoY" Was Manfred's flat response. ".yrros m'I"

"?efas rehtaeH sI"

".si ehS" His voice softened. ".yrrow t'noD" Letting out a breath, Herobrine sank down against the wall, rubbing his wounded forearm. ".rehtie truh reh tnaw ton od I ,epacse ot tpmetta yna ekam ton oD .uoy no eye na peek ot detcurtsni neeb evah I"

".llew yreV" Folding his arm against his stomach, Herobrine closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the wall. His captor had him trapped between a rock and a hard place. He'd have to come up with another way to get Heather to safety.

* * *

Heather was interrupted from sulking in the corner by the iron door squeaking open about 15 feet away.

She glanced up to see Theo coming inside and closing it behind him, and faced the wall again. If he'd come to make fun of her, she didn't want to let him have the satisfaction of letting him see her upset.

"Hey." She heard his footsteps crossing the room towards her, then shuffling as he sat down a few feet away. "What the heck are you doing in the corner?" His voice was casual, like their last interaction never happened. She didn't answer. "Oh c'mon, don't ignore me." She kept ignoring him.

"Look, I know you're mad, but you need to get over it. What I did wasn't _that_ bad." His hand brushed her arm, and she shook him off. "Heather, stop-"

"Leave me _alone!_" She snapped, pressing her face into her sleeves. "'Not that bad'- you took away the _only_ friend I had left! You took away my last connection to my husband! _And_ you almost set me on fire!"

"I did not!" Theo protested. "It was a reflex!"

"_How _was it a reflex to almost set people on fire when they throw pebbles at you?!"

"How is it a reflex to try and _defend myself _when people _attack_ me?"

"I wasn't attacking you!"

"You threw a rock at me!"

"Are you seriously trying to play the victim? It wasn't nearly big enough to hurt you!"

"Well that wasn't obvious in the half-a-second I had to react!"

"If you-"

"Okay, stop." He cut her off. "I'm _sorry, _okay? I overreacted. Can we just forget about it?"

"No! And if you're sorry, let me have Manfred back!" Theo huffed.

"Well, I'd consider it, but he's doing something right now. Your _husband_ almost escaped, and your pal is keeping an eye on him so that he doesn't do it again." Heather's heart dropped, and she spun to look at him.

"He… tried to leave without me?" Theo raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, I attacked him, and he tried to escape to the Nether, probably to get some weapons, but the Enderman and I caught up with him." He shrugged. "I'm sure he would've come to you if he had had the chance."

"Oh." She turned away again, resting her head on the wall. Theo was silent for a few moments, as though waiting for her to speak, before finally saying,

"I _am_ sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Your temper tantrum is not all I'm mad about." She responded, voice bitter. "You're still holding me and everyone I love prisoner."

"It can't be helped."

"Can't be- it can _too_ be helped! You could, I don't know, _not_ try and take over the world?!" She whirled around to glare at him. "It's all well and good if you hate Earth so much that you want to live here, but there's no need for you to have to _rule _it! You could just do what _every other player_ does and play the game the way it's supposed to be played!"

"What would the point of that be?" He snapped back. "Just- just _live_ for an eternity on the Overworld? What would the point of that be?!"

"Well if you hate it so much, you're welcome to go back to Earth! Although you're such a _jerk_ that I can't imagine you wouldn't cause just as much damage there!" Theo gaped at her for a moment before stammering out,

"You have _no _idea what my life there was like."

"Yeah, I know. And I don't care." She hurled back. "Now leave. Me. Alone." He opened his mouth to retort, but stopped, and his face grew cold. Silently, he got to his feet. Turned away.

"Fine." With that, he disappeared, a few red particles scattering onto the floor around him in his wake. Curling up against the wall again, Heather rested her chin on her knees and closed her eyes, exhausted from the events of the past couple of hours.

She couldn't bring herself to care about how Theo felt, even though that meant he might take out his anger on someone else. For now, she just needed to sit there, in the company of her own misery.


	12. Chapter 12

**I do, in fact, update sometimes (MORE if I get more reviews wink wonk)**

* * *

"This _sucks._" Alex slammed her head back against the wall, and Steve winced, but the redhead showed no sign of having been pained by the action. "Is this seriously what the next few thousand years are gonna be like? Having to sit around in here while this _brat_ runs around doing whatever he pleases?"

"I'm sure Notch will be able to deal with him." Steve suggested hopefully, but Alex looked unconvinced.

"He should be doing something _now. _Does he seriously not see what's going on?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah, I didn't think so. It was a rhetorical question." Alex heaved a sigh, leaning back against the wall and staring up at the ceiling. "It's just… frustrating. We can't do _anything._"

"Yeah." Steve agreed miserably. He'd heard voices and fighting outside in the hall earlier, one Herobrine's and one from their captor, and from the sound of it Herobrine had lost. That meant Notch was now their only hope of rescue, and, unless Manfred was with her, Heather was defenseless.

A click from the door caught his attention, and he looked up as the door swung open to see a pair of red eyes glowing from the darkness of the hall.

"The **** you want?" Alex snapped as Entity 303 stepped into Steve's cell, but the boy ignored her, kneeling next to Steve instead and reaching for his chained wrist.

"Hey," Steve started to protest, but stopped short when the shackle popped open. "What are you-?"

"Be quiet." 303 cut him off, unlocking his other cuff. "Get up." Steve hesitated, then shot Alex a final look before obliging. "Come with me." Without waiting to see if he obeyed, 303 turned and exited the cell, heading down the hall to the right.

Cautiously, Steve followed him out, trying to take note of his surroundings. Where was he taking him? He didn't seem to be worried about him trying to escape, but, where would he go? It wasn't like he knew his way out of this place. And his captor could just teleport after him, so…

On that note, where was he taking him? Was he just separating him from Alex? That didn't make much sense, but Steve didn't know him well enough to understand what went through his head.

Eventually, they reached a slightly bigger chamber, and 303 gestured towards an iron door in a small passage leading through the far wall. Warily, Steve approached, then passed him, and crossed through the doorway as the iron door swung open in front of him.

On the other side was a small room, furnished and lit, unlike most of the rest of the base. There was a bed, a table with a flowerpot, and a crafting table, as well as an armchair made out of wool and stair blocks. The seat was slightly scorched, he noticed. It wasn't until he made his second sweep of the room, however, that he spotted the body curled up in the corner.

"Heather!" The girl's head popped up at his voice, and immediately she scrambled to her feet.

"Steve!" The door slammed behind him as he hurried across the room towards her, and she buried herself in his arms.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He hugged her tightly, and she hid her face in his chest.

"I'm okay." Her voice was shaky. "But 303 took Manfred."

"Is he-?"

"He's okay, he's just… brainwashed, or something." She set her head on his shoulder with a shuddering sigh. "Why- why are you here?"

"I don't know. He just showed up and lead me here. Did something happen?"

"He and…" She paused. "He and I were getting along okay, but then he got really mad over something and he took Manfred. He's a jerk." She frowned, and Steve gave her a squeeze before letting go, looking around the room.

"What's this place made out of? Could we escape?"

"I doubt it." Heather looked mournfully at the walls of her prison. "Even if we could get out of this room, we're in the End. There's nowhere to go but the void."

"We are?" Steve blinked, glancing around. He hadn't seen any sign of being in the other dimension.

"Manfred said so, and Theo confirmed it."

"Who's Theo?" Heather blinked, then flushed red.

"Entity 303. I gave him a nickname." She changed the subject. "A-anyway, he can teleport, and he's really strong. I don't know what we can do."

"Well we can't just do _nothing._" Steve threw a glance at the door before beginning to pace. "Basically the only sentient entity left who isn't imprisoned here is Notch. That makes him our only hope, unless we can somehow escape." He paused at the disgruntled look on his friend's face. "I know, but still."

"Ugh, I don't know what to think." Taking a step away in the tiny room, Heather sunk down on the edge of her bed. "I don't want to be stuck here forever, but I just… I don't know if we can beat him. I don't know if _anyone_ can beat him. Not even Notch."

"He can." Steve insisted, sitting down on the floor beside her. "He practically owns the universe. What can 303 do to him?"

"I don't know. He's… a person from my world, in case you're not aware." She glanced down at him. "He's a hacker."

"I… knew he wasn't like us." Steve offered her a slow nod. "That still doesn't inherently make him more powerful."

"Yeah, I know. If nothing else, though, he's really confident." She placed her chin in her hand. "I'm scared. I miss Herobrine." She blurted out, and Steve didn't move for a moment before tentatively reaching up and patting her shoulder.

"It'll work out. I promise."

"How?" Her head snapped towards him, and he winced as a tear trailed down her cheek. "How can you possibly know that?"

"It has so far, hasn't it?" He smiled, but she only stuck out her lip in a pout. He chuckled. "Alright, I don't know. But I have a good feeling about it."

"Mmph."

* * *

"Where were you?" Alex asked crossly as Steve was pushed back into his cell, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Uh, visiting Heather, apparently. That's hardly my fault, though." The miner glanced back at the door to see 303 walking away, apparently deciding he wasn't worth chaining up again. "She says we're in the End." He informed his counterpart, sinking down next to the hole in the wall. "So, even if we could escape, without a way to teleport back we're stuck here."

"Any idea if the Ender Dragon is defeated in this plane?"

"No clue. Or if we're anywhere near the dragon shrine."

"Ah." Alex scowled at the wall. "Don't suppose you could get me out of these cuffs?"

"I can give it a shot." Turning around, Steve started knocking on the block above the opening, watching as a tiny crack appears in the center. "But like I said, there's not much point. Since we're in the End, the only place we can go is…" The rest of his sentence died on his lips as something occurred to him. "Wait."

"Wait what?" Alex prompted, and Steve began to knock on the stone with renewed vigor as a grin spread across his face.

"I think I know how we can get ourselves out of here."


	13. Chapter 13

"So…" Heather's eyes fluttered open at the voice, and she glanced up to see a pair of red eyes watching from the doorway. "Feeling any better?"

"Like you care." She turned over to bury her face in the pillow.

"Hey, I let you see Steve, didn't I?" Theo's footsteps echoed off the floor, and she lifted her head an inch to glower at him.

"Yes, thank you ever so much, oh kind and merciful captor, for not dooming me to eternal solitude. How majestic, and…" She grasped for another sarcastic insult. "...humble."

"Gonna guess from the overuse of adjectives that that was sarcasm."

"What gave it away?"

"I _just_ said what gave it away, you dumb-" He cut himself off, then let out a sigh as he sank down on the edge of the bed. "Look, okay, I'm- I've been a jerk to you. And I'm not good at apologizing. But I'm sorry. I really am." He paused, rubbing his neck. "...not sorry enough to call off all my plans, but you have to understand that. I don't… want you to be mad at me."

The words came out in a rush, and he nearly stumbled over them. "I mean, I kidnapped you, so this is a weird situation and I can't blame you at all for being mad at me, but you- I mean-" He cut off again, and Heather lifted her head a bit more as he hesitated a few moments. She was still mad, but now she was curious what was going on in his head.

"All I mean is… it was really nice, talking to someone who didn't just… yell." He finished lamely, looking away, and she felt a pang of pity, although she wasn't quite sure where it came from. Either he was a clever actor spinning a sob story to get her to stop snarking at him, or… something was going on with him.

"As opposed to…?" She prodded. "What do you mean someone who doesn't yell? I mean, I'm pretty sure I did yell at you."

"You did," He conceded. "but that was different. That wasn't you trying to beat me down, that was pretty well-deserved. You're not just _mean_."

"Oh, like you are?" The retort slipped out, but he just sighed.

"Yeah, like me." With a huff, she shoved herself upright, pushing tangled hair out of her face.

"Alright, so you're lonely. Got it. How about this - I'll cut you a deal." Theo threw her a wary glance from his seat on the edge of the bed.

"A deal?"

"Yeah." She got up off the bed, taking advantage of the slight height difference she obtained by doing so. "Let me see my husband. Give me Manfred back. Then I'll give you a chance." Theo's mouth opened, then snapped shut again.

"Look, you _know _I can't do that. Herobrine is _immensely_ powerful, the moment he has you in his sights he'll just run off with you and I'll never see either one of you ever again - much less recapture him. You are the only thing keeping him in that cell."

"Exactly why I want to see him. I want him to know that I'm safe. Unlike _some_ AIs, Herobrine actually has, like, real feelings. I don't want him to be worried about me."

"Dude, I just told you he's gonna pull some bull**** move if he lays eyes on you and probably escape. I _can't_ risk that, short of Notch he's the only one who can attempt to stop me."

"Okay to be fair, anyone can _attempt_ to stop you, most would just fail. Why do you want to be friends so bad, anyway? Didn't you run off to Minecraft to get away from humans?"

"Well- well, yeah." He broke her gaze. "That's because there I never met a human who was worth it. But you're… kind of worth it." She blinked down at him, still focused on his face, and spotted the faintest hint of a blush. Was he…?

"Well…" She took a step back, looking away. "...that… okay, I can see where you're coming from." She paused for a beat. "I still really miss my husband, though."

"Well, m-maybe I can find a way to block his powers or something, then you could see him." Theo coughed into his hand. "I'll see what I can do. I'll try to avoid just hitting him with another potion of weakness if I can help it."

"Ah. Yeah. Good." Shuffling to his feet, Theo headed for the door again, then paused with his hand on the knob.

"Since the threats to you are what's really keeping your husband contained, I might send your Enderman friend back here." With that, he vanished through the doorway. Staring after him, Heather sunk down onto the bed, giving up on suppressing a blush.

This was really not the time to be the subject of a love triangle.

* * *

"I miss pickaxes."

"I know, Steve."

"My hands hurt."

"I know, Steve."

"I want to die."

"Me too. Only an undetermined number of blocks to go!" Alex punched another stone brick, letting out a breath as it finally crumbled, dropping the pair another few feet. Steve groaned, rubbing his forehead, and Alex fought the impulse to remind him that _this was your idea, Steve,_ because it was actually a very good idea.

One of the many perks of respawning upon death was the ability to teleport home from just about anywhere, albeit with no items - it wasn't hard to kill yourself if you were determined enough to do it.

The End was one of the easiest places to die, granted one could get to the void. It might take forever since they were unarmed and had nothing but their hands to dig with, but as long as 303 didn't catch them in the act, they could get out of there.

Steve huffed as the block below them vanished. "My hunger bar's almost empty. That's not fun."

"Me too." Alex took a break from digging, reaching up and resting her wrists on her head.

"I hope 303's getting Heather and Herobrine food, it'd be a shame if they starved." Steve continued, and Alex gave him a funny look.

"Herobrine's hardcore?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

"Yeah." Steve made to punch the bricks again, then stopped. "Did you hear something?"

"No." As soon as the words left her mouth, though, she registered the steady _thump-thump-thump_ of footsteps, far above them. Since the only one allowed to roam free was their captor…

"Hurry." Alex lowered her voice to a whisper, reaching down to tap on the bricks again. In near-silence, the two worked, the only sound being the soft thump of fists against stone, for a few minutes before they heard an iron door slam open far above.

At that moment, the block underneath them crumbled and the two began to free-fall into the void.

"Woo!" Steve yelled as Alex let out a startled shout. She could feel the icy burn of the void disintegrating her, but that was far from the worst way to die. Closing her eyes, she hugged her arms to her chest and waited for the void to kill her.

The next thing she knew, she was lying in soft grass.

"Hey, this isn't my base." She opened her eyes at Steve's voice, sitting up to find him kneeling in the grass next to her. "What happened to my spawn point?"

"There you are." A new voice spoke, and Alex whirled around to find a tall man with a black beard standing behind them. "You wouldn't _believe_ how much trouble I've been through trying to find you."


	14. Chapter 14

Notch took a sip of his tea before setting his cup on the table and clearing his throat.

"Are you two feeling better?" Steve didn't move from his seat on the other side of the table, head resting on his arms and wrapped in a blanket. Alex, on the other hand, had her feet propped up on the corner of the table and was casually sharpening an axe.

"Which answer gets us closest to kicking that hacker's butt?"

"'Yes', probably." Notch fixed Steve with a stare until he halfheartedly lifted his chin, meeting his gaze. "Tell me everything you know about Entity 303."

"Well, he's pretty powerful." Alex kicked her feet off the table and sat up straight. "He can teleport, summon weapons and items, place blocks infinitely including bedrock, generally screw stuff up. Not to mention he hangs out in a secluded corner of the End, apparently."

"He's a human from the real world, according to Heather." Steve piped up. "Somehow he hacked into the game and managed to… possess his avatar, I guess, because he doesn't behave like a player. He has the range of motion and control that one of us does. Or Heather. But he's obviously on creative mode, and has weapons with obviously hacked enchantments." He paused, then resumed. "And… he's not afraid of you. At all. He barely sees you as a threat."

"Which will undoubtedly be his downfall." Notch drummed his fingers on the table. "You said he was in the End?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have the coordinates? Initially I could track him, which was how I sent Herobrine there, but he has since escaped into anonymity, as has the girl."

"Wait." Alex interjected. "You sent Herobrine? Since when do the two of you get along?"

"We don't." Notch took another sip of tea. "He came to me, begging me to help him find his wife. I allowed it and provided him with the coordinates."

"Huh." Alex slammed her axe into the table, startling Steve, and leaned her elbow on the handle sticking out. "To answer your question, I do. Our cell was at 289383X, 20Y, -375982Z."

"Wonderful." A menu appeared in the air next to the god, and he inputted the numbers Alex has given him before it disappears again.

"What are you gonna do?" Steve asked, propping his chin up in his hand.

"I presume that since he hasn't attacked me yet, he's preparing. I intend to interrupt such an action." Notch held out a hand, and an enchanted diamond sword appeared in it. "I'm going to kill him."

* * *

"Incredible." Herobrine's flat voice rang out through the hall as 303 opened his door. "His highness has deemed me worthy of his presence. Pray tell, what have I done to warrant such a momentous occurrence?" Narrowed eyes glowed from the farthest corner, and 303 glanced around for a moment before locating Manfred standing against the opposite wall.

"Your wife is ****ing annoying." He answered the question, gesturing to the Enderman and calling him to his side. As the mob obeyed, Herobrine raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're removing my guard?"

"Yeah." 303 replied, as nonchalantly as he could manage. "I'm not worried that you'll run. It's not like she's any safer than she was before." Herobrine glanced at the Enderman. "He works for me, he's not gonna protect her."

"Do you know what I think?" Herobrine leaned his chin in his hand, the epitome of insouciance as he reclined against the wall. "I think you underestimate the creatures of this world."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Beckoning the mob with him, 303 turned and exited the cell, letting the door slam behind him once Manfred was clear.

The creature let out a string of unintelligible speech, and 303 side-eyed him before pulling up a menu.

"This is getting old real quick." Pausing to lean against a wall, he isolated Manfred as an entity and inputted a few commands. The creature watched quietly for a few moments, then froze briefly as 303 activated the new code. "Now, what'd you say?"

"I asked where we were going." The Enderman's voice was still low and garbled, but at least vaguely understandable. He had no idea how Heather managed to learn their tongue.

"Back to Heather's room, you two can hang out for a while." Dismissing the menu, he continued down the hall again.

"Why?"

"I'm getting tired of her whining."

"...ah." He fell silent, and the two made their way back to the girl's cell. 303 directed him inside without interacting with the cell's inhabitant, and turned away, putting some distance between them. Their earlier interaction had been awkward enough, he didn't want to instigate another one.

Teleporting back to the hallway connected to Herobrine's cell, Theo cast one last withering look at where Steve and Alex had been housed. Somehow they had slipped out, and managed to pull off a suicide jump into the void. Now they were out there somewhere, and he had to track them down all over again.

At least it wasn't Herobrine, he mused as he sat down against the wall. He'd be much harder to catch, since he knew him better now. The element of surprise was gone.

Unless, of course, he could cripple him. That way, if he did escape, it would be simple to get him back. Cracking his knuckles, Theo pulled up another menu, locked onto Herobrine's signature just a few blocks away, and got to work.


	15. Chapter 15

**yeah if you're reading my other minecraft fic you might've seen this in the A/N, but I exhausted my Writing Spirit and typically it doesn't refresh until I get Validation. please leave review**

* * *

"Steve escaped?" A huge smile spread across Heather's face, and Manfred gave her a passive nod.

"Alex, too." The sound of his voice, talking forwards instead of backwards, was… jarring, at the very least.

"That's- that's really good." She pressed a hand against her forehead. "I'm glad. Is Herobrine okay?"

"He is unharmed."

"Okay. That's good." Nervously, she clasped her hands in her lap, and the room declined into awkward silence. Manfred didn't move for a few moments, then came closer and sat down on the floor next to the bed she sat upon. He looked up at Heather, but she avoided his gaze. Maybe it was just because of how he talked, but he… just… didn't feel like Manfred. Not to mention that Theo could have easily done other stuff to him as well.

"So…" She began uneasily. "Did you… learn anything more about Theo?"

"No."

"Oh." She twiddled her thumbs. "Um..."

Already tense, Heather nearly jumped out of her skin as a _crash_ sounded in the hall outside her cell. Scrambling to her feet, she hurried to the door and peered out through the window, only to gape in shock as a bald man with a black beard stepped into view.

"Notch?" Her squeak caught his attention, and he glanced over at her.

"Good morning to you as well." He gestured in her direction, and Heather stumbled forward as the door she leaned against disappeared in a cloud of sparks. "Find your husband and get out of here."

"B-but- what are you doing h-" She broke off as she spotted a white-clothed figure against the wall, clutching at his ribs with one hand as he struggled to his feet. "Theo?"

"I am here to deal with _him._" Notch threw an unconcerned glance in the boy's direction. "Now go. I am not here to harm you." His words registered in her mind, but she hesitated, frozen. What would he do to him? She couldn't just _leave!_

...no, yes she could. Herobrine was more important. Shaking her head to clear it, she turned to make a break for the hall, but clawed fingers grabbed her arms and she stopped short with a yelp. "Manfred?"

"You are not permitted to leave." The enderman snarled, and she whirled around to see cold aggression in his eyes. "Return to your quarters."

"No!? I have to-" Manfred disappeared, and an instant later an arrow whizzed by where he used to be.

"I said _go!_" Notch roared, and Heather took off down the hall, leaving their fight behind. She knew where Herobrine's cell was, she could probably break him out if she wasn't disturbed.

Thin, black arms encircled her chest, and Heather let out a cry as she was lifted up in the air. "Put me down!" She shrieked as Manfred turned, starting to carry her back. "Manfred-"

"Shut up." His arms tightened around her as she squirmed. "I do not wish to hurt you. Cease your resistance."

"I have to find Herobrine!"

"He is no longer of importance to me."

"Yeah? He is to me!" The room shifted in front of her, and Manfred dropped her on her bed. She heard weapons clashing in the other room, and immediately slid off the mattress, but Manfred shoved her down with a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay."

"Hands _off._" An instant later, Manfred was sent hurtling across the room into the wall, an audible _snap_ sounding as he collided. Heather whirled around in search of the owner of this new voice, only to slump with relief upon recognizing him.

"Herobrine." Her husband was beside her in an instant, pulling her into his arms, and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"I heard you screaming. Are you alright?"

"Mm-hmm." Herobrine didn't move for a moment, then abruptly stiffened.

"Stand _down, _I don't want to have to kill you." Heather lifted her head an inch to see Manfred a few feet away, face contorted in a snarl. One of his arms hung uselessly at his side.

"Manfred, no." She managed, and he directed his glare at her for a second before returning it to her husband. "Manfred, don't move. You're hurt."

"That is irreverent."

"I don't care, get back! Find a safe place and wait this out, go!" She begged silently that he would listen, but he didn't move, eyes locked on Herobrine's above her.

"Do as she says." Herobrine growls. The anger on Manfred's face dissipated for a moment, and he took a step back. Whether he was listening or was making a tactical retreat, she wasn't sure, but it seemed like a good thing.

None of them moved for a couple seconds, then, abruptly, Manfred disappeared. Heather rested her head on Herobrine's shoulder again, and he placed a hand on the small of her back, pulling her close.

"Let's get out of h-" A deafening _crash_ drowned out the rest of her statement, and the bed disappeared from underneath her as Herobrine teleported to the other side of the room. Grabbing his shoulder for leverage, she looked up, but immediately hid her face again as a pair of blocks flew past her and hit the wall. Theo landed beside them, a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, and immediately charged forward again only to be thrown back against the wall.

Notch appeared, passing through the cloud of dust raised when the wall collapsed with arrows floating around him. They launched at Theo, but he teleported a foot to the left to dodge them, then a few feet forward to swing his sword at Notch's chest. The god blocked it without much effort.

The hacker jumped back, managing a backflip before floating and raising a bedrock pillar to block Notch's next attack. His sword cracked when it struck the pillar, but immediately glowed and regenerated.

"Let's leave." Heather whispered, and Herobrine blinked, tearing his eyes away from the battle.

"Of course. Let's go." The world around her shifted, but they only moved a couple inches to the left. Herobrine scowled, and her vision blurred again, but they hadn't left the room. "What in-?"

"I told you to leave." Notch shouted. "It's too late now. I've locked us inside this dungeon, until the ban is lifted no one can teleport out."

"...I see." Lowering his wife to the floor, Herobrine gave his wife a stern look before drawing his pick, twirling the tool in his hand, and stepping forward to swing it at Theo's heart.

The hacker ducked beneath the swing, slamming his shield into Herobrine and causing him to stumble back. Quickly, he spun, fending off an attack from Notch on his other side. He was fast. There were tiny particles floating up around him, he must have taken a potion.

Heather watched as Herobrine and Notch tag-teamed their opponent. They worked in perfect harmony, their fighting styles almost identical, and Theo was having trouble keeping up even with what she guessed was a speed potion. The only thing keeping him in the fight was his teleportation, while both his opponents could do the same they had to react to his movements and one another's in order to continue the fight.

A sword sliced into Theo's arm, and he let out a yelp, disappearing in a flash of red. Notch disappeared after him, and Herobrine threw a glance in Heather's direction before following. Not wanting to be left alone, the blonde staggered to her feet and hurried out of the room, following the sound of metal on metal down the hall. For all she knew, Manfred was lurking somewhere to drag her off again the moment she was left unattended.

Theo appeared in the adjoining room, then teleported again as Notch appeared behind him, striking the god with his sword before popping out of view. He appeared again right beside Herobrine, who nailed him in the side of the head with his pickaxe before he escaped. Heather huddled in a corner, watching the battle while trying to stay out of focus, and winced at the sight of blood staining Theo's clothing. She couldn't really justify feeling bad for him, given what he'd done, but she did anyway. Dumb human empathy.

Theo took another hit and stumbled back, hitting the wall. Herobrine swung at him, driving him into the corner, and Heather's hands flew to her mouth as her husband lifted his pick to deliver the killing blow.

A soft _vwip_ sound reached her ears as Manfred appeared between them, shielding his master from Herobrine's attack.

The warrior faltered, pulling back to avoid hitting his old friend, and immediately Theo lunged forward to slice a gash in his arm. Herobrine let out a startled cry, and Notch appeared beside him to defend him, only for both Theo and the Enderman to vanish from sight. They were only gone for a moment, though, before Manfred appeared beside Herobrine, slashing at him with his clawed fingers, and Heather watched with eyes widened with horror as Theo popped into view behind Notch and stabbed him through the heart.

The god vanished in a shower of sparks, and Herobrine whirled around just in time to block a strike aimed at his shoulder. As he struggled with Theo through the crossed blades, however, Manfred grabbed him, lifted him into the air effortlessly, and slammed him into the stone wall.

"Manfred!" Heather yelped, trying to catch the Enderman's attention, but he ignored her, focused on her husband. Herobrine teleported to his wife's side, pushing himself up with one forearm and clutching his pick with the other, and she scrambled upright to defend him as Theo and Manfred turned in her direction.

"That's sweet, but move." Theo jerked his head towards her cell. "I don't want to hurt you, so please get out of the way."

"No." Amazingly, Herobrine didn't agree with them, taking his moment of peace as an opportunity to get back on his feet. Reaching out, he grabbed Heather's wrist, trying to teleport out again, but again they only shifted a couple of inches. Notch's teleport ban must still be in place.

"It's over." Theo raised his sword in her direction, meeting her husband's eyes. "Give up, and I won't have to hurt you anymore." Heather glanced up, but Herobrine ignored her, not taking his eyes off of his blood on Manfred's claws.

The next instant, he was gone, and she looked up to see him pinning Theo to the wall via his pickaxe piercing his throat. The boy made an awful choking sound, reaching up to grasp at the blade, but his hand faltered and fell to his side. Heather was frozen, holding her breath, unable to do anything but watch as a single drop of blood slid down the handle of Herobrine's pick and dropped to the floor.


	16. Chapter 16

"Theo?" Heather's voice broke the silence of the room, and she was surprised to hear it trembling. The hacker's face was growing pale, his body motionless, slumped limply against the wall where he was pinned to the stone bricks. Taking a step back, Herobrine removed the blade with a quick jerk, and Theo crumpled to the floor, blood leaking steadily from the mortal wound in his neck.

And then he regenerated, the wound vanishing as he appeared upright, good as new.

"You're gonna regret that." Herobrine swung again, but Theo caught it on his sword and spun around, whacking him in the head with the hilt. Manfred attacked him before he could recover, ripping a long gash in Herobrine's shirt as he struck at his chest. Herobrine stumbled back, raising his sword to drive the Enderman away, but Theo teleported behind him and rams his elbow into his face, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Herobrine!" Heather lunged forward as Theo dropped his sword, aiming a fist at her husband's face, but Manfred caught her up and dragged her away as the boy threw punch after punch at Herobrine's already-battered body. "Stop it! THEO!" The queen yelled, scrambling to escape the Enderman's grasp as Herobrine tried in vain to defend himself from the assault. "STOP! HE'S DOWN, STOP IT!"

"Shut _up!_" Theo stopped, straightening up and throwing her a glare. "He almost _killed_ me!"

"I know, but _please, _stop it! He was just trying to protect me, don't hurt him!" Heather gripped Manfred's arm so tight that her knuckles went white, not even trying to stop the tears flooding her eyes. Maybe, if nothing else, crying would snap Theo out of it.

It looks like it worked, as Theo narrowed his eyes but stepped back as her tears fell with a _hss_ onto Manfred's arm.

"Release her." He ordered, and Manfred let go, allowing her to crumple forward to kneel at Herobrine's side.

"Herobrine." His eyes opened a slit, and he grimaced. His face and neck were starting to bruise from where Theo had hit him, and there was blood on his face - although she wasn't sure whose it was. She reached down to cup his cheek in her hand, and he offered her a tiny smile.

"Manfred," She heard Theo address the Enderman. "Take him back to his cell."

"No!" Heather protested, whirling around to intercept any attempt to take him away. "No, don't touch him, you'll hurt him worse!"

"Heather-" Herobrine whispered, but it only made her feel worse. Reaching out, she snatched up his diamond pick from the floor, holding it defensively in front of her.

"Don't touch him." Theo sighed, rolling his eyes.

"You're not nearly strong enough to challenge either of us, what are you gonna do?" The Nether queen hesitated, glancing down at the pick. Then she turned it around and pressed the bloodied blade to your own neck.

"Don't touch him."

"****, okay." Theo put both his hands up. "Alright, fine. I'm gonna go work on some stuff. Manfred, keep an eye on them, but don't interfere unless they do something dumb." The snarling mob gave him a single nod, then Theo walked off. Heather's eyes followed him until he left her field of view, then turned back to her husband. His eyes were closed again.

Slowly, Heather lowered her head onto his chest, watching Manfred warily out of the corner of her eye. It was awful not being able to trust him, but she had no idea what the extent of Theo's meddling was. She was pretty sure she could trust his word, though, so they should be safe for a little while. Slowly, she let her eyes drift closed, lulled into an uneasy sleep by the sound of Herobrine's heartbeat.

* * *

"He _killed_ you?" Steve managed, dumbfounded. "How? You're _Notch_, for Notch's sake, _and_ you had him outnumbered!"

"He took a lucky shot while I was trying to help Herobrine." Notch dragged a hand down his face. "This is why I prefer to work alone."

"Well, you can go back, right?" Alex looked up from the blade of her axe. "You should be able to continue the fight. He's trapped in there, right?"

"Undoubtedly he will have struck Herobrine down by now, and I'd prefer to have the element of surprise." Notch sighed, leaning his chin in his hand. "At least I can assure that he won't go anywhere - not with the teleport ban in place."

"But neither can Herobrine." Steve interjected quietly.

"It is his own fault for not escaping sooner." Sitting up straight, Notch opened a menu beside him and skimmed a log of information. "Two days should suffice to allow him to develop a sense of security, then I'll be back to finish the job."

* * *

"Well, that was easy." 303 stretched, dismissing the menu with a wave of his hand. Notch really thought he was so great, he didn't even realize that the scope of his powers wasn't much higher than 303's own.

Just to test it, 303 teleported to the Nether, then back. He was free. Unfortunately, Notch still knew the coordinates of his base, and could come back whenever he pleased. He'd have to do something about that.

With a gesture, 303 teleported into the void outside his base, gazing at the unassuming chunk of Endstone that housed his hideout. It was possible that he could move it. He wouldn't even have to go far, Notch wouldn't recognize it from the outside, right?

Reaching out, he selected the area his base was in, slowly dragging it through the silent void. He wondered absently if his prisoners would move with it, but they hadn't clipped through the wall yet so he was sure they'd be fine. When he'd moved it a good 200 blocks, he stopped.. That should be sufficient to keep Notch off his trail.

After a bit of a struggle to find the right coordinates, 303 teleported back inside to find Manfred watching the dozing couple on the floor. Herobrine's eyes flickered open at the sound of his teleportation, but there was no malice on his face, just exhaustion and pain. Apparently that was enough to take down his fighting spirit. He has no doubt, though, that if he messed with Heather that the nether king would find his second wind.

"Had enough?" 303 sunk down next to the fallen warrior, and his words earned him a silent sneer. "You know, I really do like Heather. She's a good kid. I'd really hate to have to hurt her. Really." Herobrine just fixed him with a withering look. "No backtalk?"

"Have you ever known me to be one for japes?" Herobrine rumbled, his voice lower than normal. "I have no reason to waste my breath."

"Fair enough." 303 cast a glance at Heather, who was asleep on her husband's chest. Her hair and clothes were disheveled, and there were tear tracks on her face, as well as a smear of dried blood from Herobrine's clothes. He was sorry she had to go through that, but it was more Notch's fault than his. He'd started the fight, after all.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see Manfred reaching out, cautiously carding his clawed fingers through Heather's hair. He still cared about her, good. He'd followed orders very well in the past fight, 303 had been starting to worry. The last thing he wanted was for Heather to be unhappy, he liked it when she smiled.

The thought made him blush, and even though he knew it was almost invisible against his black skin he hurriedly got to his feet and walked away. It… was weird to feel so much affection for a person like this. He couldn't remember the last time he actually liked another human.

Shaking the thoughts away, Theo made himself comfortable in a corner and set to work on Notch's firewalls again. As far as he knew, his interference so far had gone undetected. A few more days, and Notch would be gone.


	17. Chapter 17

When Heather woke up again, Herobrine was gone.

Blinking blearily, she lifted her head, glancing around. She was back in the cell Theo had made for her, which had since been repaired. She was curled up on the floor next to the bed, and Manfred was standing on the other side of the room, staring blankly into space. She didn't see Theo, or her husband.

Uncurling, she sat up, stretching her arms above her head. Manfred glanced at her when she moved, only to turn back to the wall a moment later. Was he deliberately ignoring her, or did he just not care?

Leaning back against the bedframe, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Where's Herobrine?" Manfred glanced back down at her.

"In his cell." He responded. "Unharmed."

"Oh." Other than Theo beating him up, of course. Heather leaned back against the bedframe, hugging her arms to her chest. Like the void beneath her, she felt cold and empty.

The door swung open, and her eyes flickered up for a moment, just long enough to catch Theo's before she looked down again. The hacker stared at her for a moment, then gestured towards Manfred, and the Enderman popped away with a _vrrp_.

"Are you okay?" The innocuous question caught her off guard, and she glanced up at him as he approached and sat down next to her.

"...am I?"

"Let me rephrase, are you hurt? Physically?" She shook her head. "Okay. That's what I thought, but there was too much action to keep track of in that fight."

"Mm."

"I'm sorry." He ran a hand over his hood, then abruptly dropped his arm to his side. "For… um, I guess not letting them rescue you. And hurting Herobrine."

"It's okay." She muttered. "I know it 'can't be helped' and stuff."

"...yeah." Theo twiddled his thumbs. "I was just… wound up by the fight. Especially almost getting killed."

"Yeah." She felt a pang of pity at that. Even though he'd regenerated or whatever, he had to have felt the blade through his throat. "It's fine. Let's drop it."

"...okay." For a few moments, neither of them spoke, and she hugged her arms to her chest again. "...are you cold?"

"Um…?" Heather glanced up, gauging her comfort. "Kinda."

"Here." Before she could react, Theo slipped off his hoodie and offered it to her. She only caught a glimpse of his body underneath it before another appeared in its' place - he was very skinny, which both was and wasn't expected, and had a thin layer of black hair on his head. "I haven't really figured out how to make custom clothing outside of an avatar, so this'll have to do instead of a coat or something." He held it out until she took it, and she hesitantly hugged it to her chest, resting her chin on the thick fabric.

"Thank you."

"Mm." He looked away, focusing on the wall across the room. "So… did you know that your husband can break through planes?"

"Break through what?" She cast a suspicious look at her captor.

"He retrieved his weapon from my Ender Chest by moving to my plane. I imagine that has to come in handy." Theo scowls, then glanced over at her bemused face. "...what?"

"What's- what are 'planes'?"

"Geez, he really doesn't tell you anything, does he?" Letting out a sigh, Theo reached in front of him and placed an Ender Chest. "Here, open this." She obeyed. The chest was empty. "But, if I open it…" Gently pushing her hands away, Theo opened it himself, revealing several items stacked at the bottom. "Y'know, how Ender Chests work. But Herobrine was able to access my items, because…" he frowned.

"...well, remember how I talked about how Minecraft is an infinite world that takes up a finite amount of space?" She nodded wordlessly. "Okay, so, kind of perpendicular to this dimension are an infinite number of layers, or planes. Each individual coded as a player, including you, me, Steve and Alex, Herobrine, and Notch, has their own layer. We can visit each others' layers, but we each have our own little rectangle of reality. This makes it so that players can play on the same seed without running afoul of one another.

"It also runs Ender Chests. But, Herobrine can apparently traverse planes as he pleases." Heather remembered seeing him in her world before he took her.

"...yeah."

"Heather, I… realize that I am in no way qualified to comment on this," Theo started, and she fought the urge to cut him off there. "and I recognize that he cares about you a lot, but… Herobrine seems to keep you in the dark most of the time."

"He tells me about things that are relevant to me." She countered, shooting him a nasty glance.

"Did you ask him about cyberspace? About how he took you?"

"Maybe once or twice, back in the beginning. Otherwise I never really questioned it."

"Why not?"

"Wh- that's not- that's not even any of your business." Heather crossed her arms. "Just because you have a crush on me doesn't mean you can-"

"W-wait, what?" Theo cut her off, and she looked up to see his face heating. "I don't have a crush on you."

"You don't?" Now it was her turn to blush. "Then what was- what was all the stuff about me being 'worth it', and making sure I'm safe, and offering me your shirt, and-"

"I just meant- I _do _care about you, just… as a friend. You're _married._" He looked away, pressing one hand to his face. "Is that so shocking? That I might want to have a friend?"

"I just- assumed, I don't know. I thought you were mouthing off about Herobrine to try to get me to prefer you over him."

"Maybe a but, but not like- not in a _romantic _way." He spit out the word like venom. "I try not to get caught up in that mess if I can help it."

"O-oh." She broke eye contact. "W-well, anyway- anyway, I was gonna say, just because you c-care about me doesn't mean you can judge me and my husband's relationship. Besides, what do you know about this kind of stuff? You just said you try not to mess with romance."

"That doesn't mean I don't know about it." Theo shot back. "What I _do_ know is that when people think they're in love, they're blind to the warning signs. I _do_ care about you, and that's the reason I'm trying to get you to think."

"Sure."

"Heather, listen to me!" Theo grabbed her shoulder, not letting go even when she tried to swat him away. "When relationships go bad, they hurt _everyone _around them. What if Herobrine _was _just taking advantage of you? What would he do with you once he got tired of you? Just kill you? What would your family think? If they don't think you're dead already, that is?"

"_Stop_ it!" Heather ripped his hand off her shoulder. "I'm sick and tired of you playing with my head!"

"I'm not trying, I swear! I just want you to be careful." He pulled his hand back. "Look, if you want, I'll drop it. But think about it, _please_. It's not fair to you or anyone around you to stay blinded by affection." On a hunch, she turned her head a bit, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"Oh, I am."

"Care to share?"

"My mother." Theo's eyes flared red. "She destroyed my family. If my father had caught on sooner, maybe I wouldn't have turned out like- like _this._" He laughed bitterly, gesturing to himself. "Love's dangerous. That's all I want you to know." The blonde looked down.

"That's- that's a reasonable viewpoint , assuming you're telling the truth, but you don't know Herobrine. He's not like that."

"And how do you know that? You don't know what's going on inside his head."

"I got a glimpse of it from his journal, before you _destroyed _it."

"Okay, fair. Fine. Just…" He offered her a hand, a friendly gesture. "I'm trying to do this for _your _good, so cut me some slack, okay?"

"...fine." He looked convincing enough that she could believe that - he just had the wrong idea about Herobrine. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you." His body slacked a bit. "I'm… gonna get back to work."

"Okay." Once she acknowledged him, he disappeared in a burst of red. Sighing, the queen tucked her knees to her chest again, then abruptly remembered Theo's hoodie, the bundle of fabric resting in her lap. She frowned at it, then pulled her arms out of her thin jacket, pulling the white garment over her head. It was warm, and she noticed idly the lack of any scent.

Tugging the hood over her head, Heather leaned back, letting out a breath as she looked up at the ceiling. Theo was right about one thing, Herobrine hadn't told her very much about the world. She should ask him why if he- when he got out. Until then, she really shouldn't dwell on it. Spending hours coming up with conspiracy theories about how he didn't really love her wouldn't help anyone. Maybe she should just get some more sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**I like how ebony & brievel had two opposite reactions to theo's insistence he doesn't have a crush in the previous chapter**

* * *

Herobrine lay silently in the corner of his cell, body draped unceremoniously against the wall where he had been tossed in a few hours before. He had yet to be graced by the numb comfort of sleep, his only reprieve being the splash potion of healing his captor had shattered beside him before leaving him. Unfortunately, while it had healed many of the smaller wounds, he was still in too much pain to make any attempt to escape.

Lifting one hand an inch, Herobrine summoned his enchanted pickaxe from his inventory, watching the purple light reflect off the walls of his prison for a moment before putting it back. 303 had made the mistake of not disarming him this time, most likely it just had not occurred to him. The other option was that he didn't think it was dangerous enough to take away - which, given his hold on his beloved, was completely possible.

Although… from their interaction in the last battle, it almost seemed like the two were on friendly terms. The boy had expressed a desire not to hurt her, and she was not afraid to stand up to him unarmed. Would it be safe for him to simply take her, whisk her away to the Nether?

Although, he didn't know if it was possible for him to teleport out, and the risk was too high for him to try. Perhaps when Notch came back - if he did, that is, but it seemed likely - he could make it out with her and take her far away. As far as he knew, the boy couldn't track them. He could find a safe place and wait it out with her, wait for Notch to clean up his mess, then they could return to their life in the Nether.

* * *

"Hey, wake up." A hand brushed Heather's arm, and she made a startled noise, lifting her head and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Why are you on the floor? You're a foot away from the _actual_ bed." The blonde glared up at Theo, blinking the fogginess out of her vision.

"Call it personal preference. What are you doing here?"

"Hey, no need to be hostile." He put up his hands in surrender, sitting down next to her. "I brought you some food. You haven't eaten in a little while." She blinked, looking down at herself. That's true. So why wasn't she hungry?

"Thanks." She answered after a moment. "I'm not… really hungry, though."

"Oh?" Theo tilted his head. "Why not?"

"Um, I dunno. I remember being hungry before, but not anymore." She shrugged, pulling her hood down. "Maybe my food bar is empty or something?"

"Huh." Reaching out, Theo placed a block of oak planks next to her, then placed a cake on top of it, already divided into five neat slices. "Well, here you go anyway. I'd prefer if you didn't starve to death."

"Me too." Leaning back, she stretched her arms above her head. "...Theo?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you- is it possible for you to turn Manfred back to like he was?" She kept going before he could say no. "I miss him. He's not like he used to be, he- he's like a completely different person. Enderman."

"Sorry." Her heart sank. "I think it would be possible, but right now I can't risk a wildcard like that running- well, teleporting around wreaking havoc. I need him controlled." She mulled over his words for a moment.

"...'right now'?"

"Right now." Theo echoed. "Maybe once I take over the universe I can turn him back, and he can cause havoc all he wants, I'll be safe in my little bubble of reality." A smile lit up her face for a moment, but quickly died at the thought of the world in Theo's image. No Herobrine, no Steve, they'd be locked away somewhere. At least… if Theo did pull this off, at the very least she might have Manfred.

"Okay." She responded at last. "That's better than nothing."

"Mm." Theo linked his fingers together and rested them behind his head, staring up at the ceiling as he leaned back on the bed. "...hey, can I ask you about something?"

"Sure."

"What was-" He cut off, lifting his head. Heather raised an eyebrow at him, and he shook his head. "Sorry, thought I heard something. Anyway, what-"

The wall exploded.

Heather threw her hands up over her head as fragments of stone rained down on her, followed quickly by a burst of cold air. When she looked up, blinking rapidly to avoid the dust in the air, Theo was gone, and there was a giant, gaping hole in the wall beyond which was only darkness.

"Miss Heather." Spinning around, she found Notch standing over her, a hand extended in her direction. "Come, let's get you away from that drop."

"O-okay." She stammered, more out of shock than fear as she took his hand and let him pull her upright. "What did- what just happened?"

"I carelessly sent out some explosive charges in an effort to reveal your captor's hideout." He let go of her, shifting his hammer back into his now-vacant right hand. "Come, I'd rather not leave you alone."

"Okay." Heather followed him as he broke through the wall of her cell - apparently doors took too long -, marvelling at the ease at which she found herself around him. Even back when he was helping her with Null, she always felt... suspicious around him. Now, she felt fairly safe. Maybe this time he didn't plan to betray Herobrine.

Heather stepped out into Theo's base of operations, watching Notch as the god glanced back and forth.

"Would you prefer to stay here or track him down with me?" His dark eyes flickered down to her, and she blinked at the absurdity of him asking for her opinion before she responded.

"Come with you." Too many chances for her to get nabbed. With a nod, he started down the hall, his hammer dragging on the ground at his side.

The silence was broken only by the sound of their footsteps and diamond grinding against stone as the two slowly make their way down the long, twisting hallway. Theo had to be hiding somewhere from them, probably lying in wait to ambush Notch. What was his plan, anyway? Notch could just keep coming back infinitely, and it was basically impossible to trap him, right? Was he even going to try and fight him again, or would he just cut his losses and slip away, allowing her and (hopefully) Herobrine to be rescued?

At that moment, Heather passed a cell, and stopped short as she turned and peered through the window. Herobrine. The nether king looked like he was fast asleep on the ground, his chest rising and falling with his breaths but otherwise not moving.

"Notch." The queen whisper-yelled. "Can you- can you open this for me?" He gestured towards the door in response, and it swung open. "Thanks." She slipped inside, kneeling next to Herobrine's prone form and tapping his shoulder. "Herobrine?" There was no response, which struck her as odd. Herobrine was usually a light sleeper.

"Leave him. We can return once we locate the hacker." Notch ordered, and Heather lifted her head to give him a pleading look, but her vision was drawn immediately to a pair of red eyes watching her from the corner of the cell.

The next second, he was gone, and there was a flurry of movement in the hallway outside as the blonde huddled down next to her husband's body. She heard a roar from Notch, then an explosion. She… probably didn't want to be in there right now.

Instead, she focused on Herobrine, who still hadn't moved. Did Theo drug him again, maybe? Or maybe he was sleeping deeply because he got hurt. Whatever the case, that really wasn't a good thing right now.

Heather heard a _vwip_ and immediately scrambled back, looking up to see Manfred reaching for her. She whirled around and fled into the hall, only to get smacked in the side of the head by something hard and crash to the floor.

"Stay out of the way!" A male voice snapped, and she identified it as Notch as she shook her head to dispel the ringing in her ears.

"Y-yeah." Stumbling to her feet, Heather headed back towards Theo's base room, hopefully away from the fight. She didn't know if she could keep Manfred off of her, but he probably wanted her back in her cell anyway, right?

Huddling in the corner of the larger room, the queen pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She could hear the two of them fighting, but, as usual, she couldn't affect the outcome at all. At least, not without greatly endangering herself, and she doubted anyone would be very happy about that.

She cast a glance at the void, visible through the hole Notch had punched in the wall of her cell. It wasn't pitch-black, like she had originally thought, but more of a static grey-purple color. It… was unnerving, to say the least.

A crash caught her attention, and Heather looked up to see Theo fly into the room and bank hard to the left, just dodging as Notch's hammer slammed down onto the block he'd been on a moment before. Immediately, he set upon the god with a flurry of strikes from his sword, forcing Notch to summon a shield to block them before striking out again with a newly-formed diamond sword.

Heather could barely keep track of their rapid movements, neither seeming to have a great advantage over the other as they fought. Notch switched between several weapons as he found convenient, while Theo made use of bursts of teleportation to stay one step ahead of his opponent. Neither paid her any heed as their battle moved back towards the narrow hallway.

Abruptly, Theo teleported to the far side of the room, and Notch spun around, but neither attacked as they locked eyes on one another. Theo was panting heavily, blood visibly soaking through his clothes, while Notch didn't look like he'd taken any damage.

"How about a truce, old man?" Theo's playful voice broke the silence, and Heather frowned. He couldn't be serious. "Clearly I can't beat you."

"Clearly." Notch sounded unconvinced. "So why should I spare you?"

"Well, you can't exactly beat me either." Theo shrugged, his face unconcerned. "I'm fast, I'm agile, and I can regenerate my form. I'm practically invincible. Eventually you're gonna slip up, I'll kill you, and I'll break your teleport barrier before you can get back. I can hide anywhere in this infinite game, and continue messing with your perfect world."

"And your idea of a compromise?" Notch's voice was flat, his expression cold.

"You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. I'll play around in my little corner of reality, you can play with yours."

"And you will, of course, stop detaining my subjects." Herobrine was his subject? Wait, _she_ was his subject?

"Oh yeah, definitely." Theo gave him a cheeky grin. "Anyway, thoughts?"

"No." The next instant, Notch was in front of him, hammer lifted above his head, and Theo had to scramble to get out of the way before it came down on his skull. Whirling around, Notch carried through his swing and slammed his hammer into the hacker's chest, sending the teen's body into the wall with a sickening _thud._

Immediately, Notch appeared over him again, and Theo just managed to throw himself out of the way before he was crushed into the stone beneath him. He teleported across the room, but Notch just followed, and this time the hacker couldn't dodge in time before the hammer slammed his body into the stone.

Heather opened her mouth to cry out as Theo screamed, but was interrupted by a burst of white light in her vision. Flinching away, she squeezed her eyes shut against the brightness, and the cool stone disappeared from underneath her. What the heck - ?!

"_Heather!_" A pair of arms flung around her neck, and she let out a startled noise as she blinked her eyes open. The blinding light was gone, replaced by soft sunlight streaming through window blinds. Where-? "Oh my- Heather we've been so _worried_, where have you _been?_"

"Mom?" She finally placed the voice, returning the hug. She was home. She was in her room. How did she - ?!

"Where did you go? How did you get back here?" Her mother pulled away, reaching up to hold her daughter's face in both hands. Her eyes widened. "Where did this bruise come from?"

"Bruise?" Heather reached up, pressing a hand to the side of her face as her eyes flitted around the room. "Um, I don't…" She had run into Notch.

"Oh, nevermind that. Are you okay?" Mom met her eyes with wide, worried ones, and Heather offered her a confused smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The only explanation she could think of was that Theo had sent her back. But why? And _how?_

"Where have you been? Heather, it's been _two days!_" Mom's words threw her off, and her smile disappeared in a flash.

"Two days?"

"You didn't answer my question, where have you been?"

"I don't… know." She lied, trying to make sense of what was going on. She was in Minecraft for more than six months. Maybe this was a dream? She knew that time passed more quickly in Minecraft, but this long? "It's… kinda fuzzy."

"Well- well, come on, we have to go downstairs and tell your dad." Mom pressed a kiss to her forehead, and Heather's smile returned as she scrambled to her feet. She was confused, disoriented, but she felt… good. Maybe she missed her home more than she realized.

She'd find her way back to Minecraft. For now, she was happy to be home again.


	19. Chapter 19

**id like to take a moment to thank everyone who left a review after I begged for feedback, it was Quite helpful and the fic is! actually finished now I Just need to translated it to fanfiction-appropriate-content**

**review replies:**

**Bookkeeper: HE PROBABLY WOULD NOT. BUT HE WILL. he cant escape his fate**

**Mayor of Ninjago city: never fear, there are like 7ish more chapters (?)**

* * *

If there's one thing that Herobrine hates, it's helplessness.

It had been hard to keep track of the days in that dark cell, but he estimated that about a week must have passed that he lay there in the shadows. Eventually, Notch rescued him - only in the loosest sense of the word, of course. He provided him with a single health potion, and informed him of what had happened in his absence. Entity 303 and Heather were both gone.

He had travelled back to the Nether to arm himself, then teleported himself to Heather's world in search of her. He found her reuniting with her family, and retreated back to Minecraft. He wasn't sure how they would react to him, given his... unconventional appearance, but he didn't care to find out.

Aiming to collect her later that night, when she was alone, Herobrine had busied himself with preparing a place for them to hide out. Notch had made an offhanded comment suggesting that 303 had fled back to Earth himself, implying it would be a good while before he returned due to the differences in the passage of time. He had plenty of time to set up a base for them to live in.

Doing his best to stay mindful of the amount of time it would take for two or three hours to pass in Heather's world, Herobrine built a small survival base in a birch forest over the span of the next three weeks. He took care to find a secluded spot, far away from any notable locations in the world, in an effort to keep them away from 303.

While not building or stockpiling supplies, he visited Notch a couple of times to eavesdrop on any updates on 303. As far as he could tell, though, he hadn't made an appearance.

Finally, once a month had passed, Herobrine traveled back to Earth to bring back his wife.

When he appeared in her bedroom, he noted with a rush of relief that it was dark. A lump was curled up under the blankets in the bed, and he took a hesitant step towards it. Fortunately, a step was all it took to get her attention, and Heather rolled over, blue eyes peering up at him.

"Hey." She whispered, and he responded with a small smile. "We should go back, huh?" He nodded, offering her a hand, and she took it and let him pull her to her feet. She swayed a bit on her feet, and Herobrine glanced down at her outfit. She was wearing a new jacket, he noted. It was red.

He reached for her other hand, to steady her when they teleported back, but unexpectedly she pulled it away.

"Wait." Her voice was loud in the small room, and she flinched. "Can…" she continued in a whisper. "...I stay here a little while longer?"

"Stay?" Herobrine echoed, blinking down at his wife. "Why?" She looked down.

"I miss my family." Her voice held a hint of defensiveness. "I only got to see them for a little while."

"Even one night here is the equivalent of months in Minecraft." Herobrine protested. "If you stay…"

"It's not like I'll be in any danger. Theo can't- 303 can't find me here, for sure." She didn't meet his eyes. "It won't be for very long."

"It will for me." She didn't react. "Heather-"

"I want to see my friends." She interrupted. "I wanna go to school, and eat lunch in the cafeteria, and pass notes in class. I want to give my favorite teacher a hug." Her voice broke on the last word, and she bowed her head a bit. "Herobrine, I _miss _them."

She sank down on the edge of the bed, and Herobrine sat down on the floor beside her. "Heather-" he tried again, but she interrupted once more.

"I miss gossiping about dumb stuff, and playing games I'm not good at. I miss walking home with my best friend. I miss eating whatever crappy food the school decides to serve us. I miss _homework._" She let out a watery laugh. "I miss things being normal. I want to go back."

"But I would miss _you._" Herobrine blurted out, not trying to disguise the desperation in his voice. _Stay with me._

"I know." A tear escaped down her cheek, and she buried her face in her hands. "I'm s-sorry, I just m-miss them so much." Herobrine felt a pang of guilt as she muffled a sob in her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I kn-know I should stay with you. I'm j-just being selfish."

"No, I'm the one who's being selfish." Hesitantly, he reached up, placing a hand on her arm. "If you want to stay here, then by all means do so. Your safety and well-being come first."

"No." She shook her head jerkily. "I'm s-supposed to stay with you. You're my husband."

"I've survived long enough alone." He tried. "A little more won't hurt." It had the opposite effect, as Heather pressed her palms to her face again. "Please, please don't cry." No response. "I love you."

"I kn-know." She sniffed. "...'m sorry."

"For what?"

"I d-don't think I l-love you."

* * *

The words tasted foreign on her tongue, but it felt good to get them out. Heather couldn't see Herobrine's face, her eyes squeezed shut and face hidden in her hands, but his stunned silence told her everything she needed to know about his reaction.

"...why?" He broke the silence at last. "Why do you think that?"

"I'm- I think I used to." She stammered out. "I don't know why I stopped. I just m-miss my family more." Heather peeked up, catching a glimpse of his face, and winced. He was composed, he always was, but she could still see the shift in his expression. "I just… I c-care about you, I really do. I d-don't want to leave you because I know you'd miss me." She rambled, trying to explain her actions away. "But I m-miss my life here a lot. I wanna stay."

"Then stay." She felt his fingers brush her cheek. "Stay as long as you want."

"But-" She cut herself off, unsure how to communicate how bad she would feel about leaving him. Even though she didn't love him.

"I'll survive on my own." He offered her the faintest of smiles, but she could hear his voice lowering as he spoke. "I'll deal with 303, and I'll bring Manfred back. So you can see him if you ever decide to come back."

"Come back in a day, okay?" Heather blurted out, her voice barely over a whisper to keep from tearing up again. "24 hours. Come pick me up tomorrow night." Herobrine hesitated, then nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Very well." He moved towards her an inch, as if to kiss her, then appeared to remember and pulled away again. Instead, he placed a hand on her arm, offering her a slightly uncertain smile, then let go and disappeared.

Heather didn't move for a couple of minutes, perched anxiously on the edge of the bed in the silence of her dark room. She almost couldn't believe he was really gone.

Finally, the teen scooted back, pulling back the blankets and curling up on her pillow. Her eyes were red and dry from crying, and she was exhausted from the sheer emotional toll of that conversation. With this in mind, it was no wonder that it took her little more than a couple minutes for her to go to sleep.

* * *

303 sat huddled against the headboard of his bed, panting breaths muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. With shaking hands, he brushed back a lock of curly hair before returning his grip to the pillow. That had been way, _way _too close for comfort.

An image of Notch's hammer swinging down at him flashed across his vision again, and he shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut and stifling a whimper. From now on, he wasn't picking direct fights with anyone, much less Notch. He'd settle for hiding out somewhere and working on the firewalls from the safety of his base.

He was back at square one, 303 thought bitterly. With the added bonus that now the AIs knew all about him. He'd have to come up with a new entry plan in case Notch did something to the work he'd already completed.

Lifting his gaze to the window, 303 glanced at the sky, noting the yellows and pinks beginning to appear from the impending sunrise. He'd have to spend the day at school, there's no way he could simply vanish again without dad noticing. Not during the day. With a heavy sigh, he remembered that, of course, he hadn't done his homework. He barely remembered what it was. He was definitely getting yelled at today.

Dragging himself out of bed, 303 made his way over to his dresser and picked out a hoodie and jeans. It was almost time to get up, anyway. As he got dressed, he mulled over the differences between the passage of time in the real world as opposed to in Minecraft. There seemed to be a pretty significant gap. By the time he returned tonight, then, quite a long time would have passed in his absence. Maybe long enough for Notch and his flunkies to decide he was no longer a threat.

Slipping the hoodie over his head, Theo cast one last longing look at his computer before gathering up his backpack and leaving the room. Hopefully, by the time he returned tonight, Minecraft would once more be ripe for his taking.

* * *

**cant believe theo is such a frickign nerd**

**~FFF**


	20. Chapter 20

**me: oh no im burned out how will I post things for attention**  
**me:**  
**me: ah! of course! the perfect way to get attention without actually having to think!**

* * *

Heather didn't think she'd ever had such a good day at school before.

Maybe it was just because of how long it had been since the last time she was there, but every moment just seemed so busy and full of life. It was a little overwhelming, but she enjoyed it.

Her friends, and even friends of friends, were bursting with curiosity as to why she'd missed the past two days of school. Apparently the police had been called when she vanished, which… made sense. She spent a couple classes in the morning thinking of a decent story (read: totally nonsensical, but somehow believable) to tell them during the lunch period, which got passed around the school quickly. She felt a bit like a celebrity.

Heather spent a lot of time thinking about Herobrine, though, too. She still felt bad about leaving him for so long, and by mid-afternoon she was starting to come up with unlikely scenarios regarding what had happened to him. He could have been killed by Notch, or Theo discovered that he was hardcore and took him out. While he was usually the one doing the protecting, Heather soon found herself wishing that she was there to watch out for him.

All too soon, the school day was over, and she spent the short bus ride home enjoying her last few minutes with her friends. She had no doubt she would see them again, but, at least for now, she needed to go back with Herobrine. As long as he was okay, and could come pick her up, that is.

Heather marveled at the normalcy of the rest of her day, how mundane things such as doing chores and eating dinner with her parents made her so happy. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed them until now.

She spent the evening hanging out with them, vaguely wondering why they hadn't really questioned her mysterious disappearance. All the better for her if she didn't have to explain, but still, kinda weird.

At 10 PM, Heather headed upstairs to find Herobrine standing in her room.

"Herobrine." She whispered, pushing the door shut behind her and hurrying forward to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as she leaned her head against his chest, hands clasped behind his back as she tried and assess whether or not he was hurt. He seemed okay.

"Heather." He murmured in response.

"How are you doing? I mean, are you okay?" She asked, pulling away. "Anything important happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing much." He offered her a hint of a smile. "303 has made no move. Perhaps Notch was right in that he fled back to Earth as well."

"He did?" She blinked. "Oh, that… explains how I ended up here, kind of."

"Indeed." Herobrine gave her a small nod. "Are you willing to go back with me?"

"I said I would. Yes." She nodded back. "How long- how long was today for you?"

"Three months." Heather physically flinched. She knew there was a significant difference between how time worked here and there, but the thought of Herobrine being alone for so long was still painful.

"I'm sorry."

"Please don't be." His voice was blank and motionless. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah." He took her hands in his, and in a flash of color she found herself in a flower-filled field.

Heather looked around, feeling a sense of deja vu as she was reminded of the first time she was pulled into Minecraft by her now-husband. The biome was surrounded by birch trees, and just inside the forest line she could see a small cabin.

"Is that ours?" She asked, pointing, and he followed her gaze before nodding.

"I built that over the past few weeks. It's well-stocked, I was hoping to wait out the rest of 303's attack where he can't find us." He responded, turning and beginning to lead her across the field towards it. "Or, at least until you'd like to go home."

"For now, can we plan on me going home before morning?" The blonde asked, swinging her clasped hands between her and her husband. "So, about… a month?"

"Of course." He sounded slightly more cheerful at that. The two of them crossed the remaining distance in silence, until they reached the front porch of the little birch house.

"Heather." His voice held slightly more emotion now, and she looked up as he came to a halt and got to his knees beside her. "I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure," She responded, hesitant.

"I ask that you would give me another chance." He placed his other hand over hers. She blinked.

"Another chance?" She echoed, bewildered. "You haven't done anything wrong, I just-"

"That's not what I mean." He interrupted. "I mean… I did not do a good job of… courting you." His eyes dropped to the ground. "It was presumptuous of me in the first place to assume that just because I love you that you should reciprocate. So, I suppose… I want to start over." He looked back up at her. "Try again. The right way, this time."

"I- of course." She'd been blushing since he said the word 'courting', mainly just because it was such a weird concept, but it didn't die down as the blonde tried to think of a better response. She didn't know what she expected upon seeing him again, maybe that he'd fallen out of love, or even that he was angry with her, but definitely not this. Not that she was complaining. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"Thank you." He rose to his feet again, and Heather was struck once more with deja vu. This time, she wasn't even sure where it came from. "I had a thought a couple of weeks ago." He changed the subject. "Despite my attempts to protect you, you've found yourself in far too many dangerous situations."

"True." She ran through her head all the times she'd gotten kidnapped. "Yeah."

"I can't always guarantee your safety," Herobrine continued. "But I can make an attempt to prepare you should you be placed in danger. If you are willing, I'd like to teach you how to fight."

* * *

303 dropped his backpack on the floor and collapsed face-down into his mattress. One hand found its way to his ribs, which were definitely bruised and possibly broken. He grimaced, glad he could at least make it to his room before dad noticed something amiss.

His stomach growled, and 303 heaved a sigh. He'd have to go back out and get something to eat, he was too hungry right now to work on getting himself back. By midnight, though, he should be able to send himself back to his base.

Flipping over onto his back, 303 stared up at the chipped paint on the ceiling of his room. His body ached from the stress of the day, and he wished he could just regenerate his form like his virtual one. The pain was a stark and physical reminder of why he wanted to be in the other realm so badly, where he had even a little bit of control over his situation.

Letting out a breath, 303 let his eyes fall shut. His stomach pricked with hunger, but he ignored it, letting drowsiness dull his senses. He had time for a quick nap, the pain should wake him up soon enough anyway. Assured of this by the twinges of pain running from his chest as he shifted, the teen doesn't fight as his body succumbed to sleep.

At around 11:30 PM that night, 303's door opened a slit, a beam of light falling on the sleeping form on the bed, before it closed with a _click_ and the room was overtaken by darkness once more.

* * *

**~FFF**


	21. Chapter 21

**well im gonna blame college for not a lot of updates, but now all the schools are shut down due to the coronavirus so! ha!**

**...also im really sad so I want attention**

**stay safe everyone**

* * *

"Unlike from a player's perspective, wielding a sword inside the game is far more complex than just swinging back and forth to the beat of the critical strike cooldown." Herobrine stood above his wife, his hands on hers as she held a wooden sword with both hands. "While I'm sure this has become obvious given the fights you've witnessed, being proficient in the skill is an entirely other matter. It requires significant amounts of repetitive practice, experience in real battles, and knowledge of what your body can or cannot do."

"This is already complicated." Heather complained, feeling self-conscious with him towering over her. "I _do_ know how to fight."

"No, you know how to _brawl_. You are capable of defending yourself against the most basic of mobs, yes, but should you be threatened by anything worse you would stand little chance of winning." He adjusted her grip on the sword's handle, pulling her left hand away. "The first step is your stance. Watch me." Drawing his own wooden sword, Herobrine took a battle-ready stance, sword held near to his chest to defend himself. "Always make sure your feet are planted firmly. Otherwise knocking you down would be relatively simple."

"Okay." Heather shifted her feet, copying him. He glanced at her, assessing her form, before giving her a single nod.

"Very good." He stepped in front of her, raising his sword. "I'm going to attack you. Show me how you respond." After a beat of silence, he swung his sword, down at her chest, and Heather lashed out with her own to knock it away. "Good. Although, a swing like that is fairly predictable. You will have to move quickly in order to pull it off."

"You're saying so many words and they're just getting muddled in my head." The blonde pressed a free hand to her forehead, where she could feel a headache coming on. "Is there a simpler way to do this?"

"Well…" Herobrine paused, thinking. "I can try to focus more on demonstration, rather than instruction."

"That sounds good." She pulled her sword up to her chest again.

"Alright. I'm going to go through a few strikes. Just do as I do." Herobrine stepped back, easing a different stance, and she copied him. "Ready? One." He swung. She swung. "Two." He stepped back, pulling his sword to his side. She followed his lead. "Three." He followed through with his movement, turning around and swinging in front of him. Heather, somewhat clumsily, copied him. "Four." He ducked, then swung upwards. His wife did the same. "Good job. Let's start over. One."

The afternoon passed in much the same manner. Herobrine wasn't the best teacher, but he was gentle and persevered despite her lack of ability. Heather could feel her muscles starting to ache by the time the sun started to go down, her body complaining at the unfamiliar form of stress, but it wasn't too bad. She was learning.

Herobrine finished his lesson just before the sun disappeared over the horizon, and the two of them retreated indoors, Heather's feet dragging in the grass as she made her way inside. After a quick meal of a single loaf of bread, the queen fell into bed and passed out.

She didn't get up until late the next day, upon which Herobrine pulled her outside to train some more. Heather's body ached from yesterday's training, but she was able to ignore it. A small price to pay for swordfighting skills.

She improved slowly over the next week. Her confidence in her own ability grew, and soon enough Herobrine gave her a stone sword instead of a wooden one, to help her get used to the weight. He taught her quite a few choreographed routines, which he instructed her to stitch together in any order for use in battle, as well as some responses to various attacks and defenses. Probably her biggest problem was working on her response time, but her husband assured her that it would come with time.

On that note, Herobrine had definitely been acting different. He was almost doting, taking the utmost care not to hurt his wife when sparring and offering her water and rest whenever she showed signs of being tired. Occasionally, he'd pick a flower and tuck it into her hair. Didn't say a word, just placed it behind her ear and went back to whatever he was doing. It was cute.

Heather wasn't in love with him, but she was definitely growing more fond of him. He was still quiet, still stoic, but very sweet. He didn't hide the fact that he loved her, but was careful not to make her uncomfortable, keeping a few inches of distance between them at all times - except during training, of course. They were bonding, and Heather found herself hoping she did fall in love with him. That would be nice.

Ultimately, though, she knew she couldn't force herself to fall in love. After all, she'd kind of already tried.

* * *

Heather woke up one morning just as the first rays of dawn began to peek in through the windows.

Yawning, she pushed yourself up, stretching aching arms above her head. Se was tempted to go back to sleep, but was curious to see the sunrise. It'd been a good while since the last one, lately she'd rarely gotten up before 10 AM.

Dragging herself out of bed, she made her way out of her room and into the living space. She didn't see Herobrine, he must still be asleep. His room was on the other side of the cabin, but she tiptoed anyway as she snuck out of the house and into the flower field.

Heather settled herself in a pocket of poppies and watched as the sun drifted lazily into view. The remaining stars melted away under the rays of golden light, and slowly the sky began to turn blue. She'd almost forgotten how pretty Minecraft was.

"Hey, Heather." The blonde jumped out of her skin at the voice, directly behind her, and whirled around to meet a familiar pair of red eyes.

"Theo!" Immediately, she was on her feet, drawing her stone sword.

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Theo lifted both his hands in surrender. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You're gonna kidnap me though!"

"Says who? Maybe I just want to talk." Keeping his empty hands in plain view, Theo sunk down into the grass, crossing his legs in front of him. "It's been a while, that's all." Heather didn't respond, shifting into one of the stances Herobrine had taught her.

"What happened to you?" She asked carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"Where've you been all this time?"

"I took a day off. Went back to Earth."

"Why? I thought you hated it there."

"Yeah, but Notch can't find me there, and I needed a little time to recover." He rested his hands on his knees. "So I figured, what better place to hide than in another dimension?"

"I guess." Slowly, she lowered her sword to her side. Theo wasn't the most trustworthy person she'd ever met, but if he did decide to kidnap her there really wasn't much she could do about it. She really needed Herobrine to get up. Unfortunately, she doubted she could yell for him without Theo springing up and whisking her away to the End. She'd have to stall. "So… why are you here?"

"Like I said, just want to talk." He shrugged. "I wanted to check up on you. You and your…" he coughed. "...husband. On a related note, why do you have a _stone_ sword?"

"Herobrine doesn't want me stabbing him." She responded simply. "He's teaching me some fighting moves, so he gave me a dull weapon to practice with. The idea is that I learn how to fight so that I can defend myself if a bad guy-" she paused to give him a hard look. "-were to show up while he wasn't around."

"I see." Theo glanced around nonchalantly. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?" Heather snipped. Immediately, the hacker burst into laughter.

"That- ha- _what_ the heck, Heather." He managed through his laughter, and the queen started to giggle at the sight of his amusement. "That's fighting _dirty._"

"Sorry!" She defended herself through a grin. "It just slipped out."

"Still!" Theo dissolved into laughter once more, and Heather covered her mouth with one hand, letting yourself sink back down into the grass. She probably could've seen that coming. He was about her age, anyway.

Finally, Theo calmed down, rubbing tears from his eyes as he sat down cross-legged across from her. "So," he chortled, trying his best to choke out his remaining laughter. "What's- what's new?"

"Um." She grinned at him under the her hand. "Well, Herobrine's teaching me how to fight."

"Yeah, you mentioned that." Still snickering, the hacker rose unsteadily to his feet. "Why not give me a little demonstration? A little sparring practice?"

"Uh.. I guess?" Grabbing her stone sword, Heather hauled herself upright. "If Herobrine wakes up, though, he's gonna murder you."

"We could go to the End to do it." Theo examined his fingernails.

"No!"

"It's okay, I'm sure it'll be fine." Summoning his own stone sword, the hacker took a battle stance, beckoning her forward. "En garde!" Buzzing with the beginnings of an adrenaline rush, she shifted her feet, running through all the forms that Herobrine had taught her. Then, she charged.

The two of them sparred/playfought for the next 20-25 minutes, Theo seemingly being impressed by her skill. He went pretty easy on her, occasionally stopping to give her a tip or two, and both of them were careful to never actually harm the other.

This lasted until a new figure appeared out of thin air, throwing Theo to the ground and pinning him there with a boot on his chest.

"Herobrine!" Heather yelped as her husband came into focus, scowling down at the boy pinned under his foot. "It's okay, we were just sparring!" Before he could respond, though, Theo teleported away, replacing his stone sword with diamond and taking a swing at Herobrine's neck.

"Stop it!" Heather protested helplessly as Herobrine batted away the strike and teleported away, attacking his opponent from behind. Theo reacted in the nick of time, whirling around and blocking it at the last moment, and the queen's next cry died on her lips as she realized they weren't listening. With a huff, she hefted her stone sword at her side, then threw herself between them right as they were about to clash.

Immediately, they both stopped. They also both shouted. Her name. Loudly.

"What the heck?" Theo snapped as Herobrine grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her behind him with moderate force.

"You two cut it _out!_" Heather protested, latching onto her husband's wrist. "You don't need to be fighting. Stop." The two didn't break eye contact with one another, but slowly, surely, Theo lowered his sword to his side.

"Truce?" He offered, dropping his sword and raising his hands. She gave Herobrine a pleading look, and he let out a deep sigh before dropping his stance.

"Very well."

"Thank you." She squeezed his arm, hugging it to her chest. In response, he patted her head with his free hand.

"Why are you here?" He asked simply, watching his opponent with unwavering eyes.

"I just wanted to check on Heather." Theo shifted, his hands still raised. "I know time passes a lot faster here, and I left for a day or so. I just wanted to catch up."

"Oh. About three and… a half, I think, months have passed since then." She looked up at Herobrine. "I was gone for most of it. You sent me back home."

"Me?" Theo blinked. "Oh. Uh, sorry? That's… actually pretty cool, I can do that?"

"I guess."

"That's… very… interesting." He rubbed his chin. "I guess- well, never mind. So you've only been back here a couple weeks?"

"Yeah."

"What have you been doing?"

"Just... chilling with Herobrine."

"Ah." Awkward silence blanketed the three of them. "So, I should prob'ly go." Theo announced at last.

"Wait." Herobrine stopped him. "Why did you come back?" The hacker blinked, and his brow furrowed.

"I told you. I wanted to check-"

"Not here." He was interrupted. "Minecraft. Why did you return? From what Notch told me, he had given you quite the sound beating before you slipped away." She winced at the reminder. "You've established that you can't beat him. Why try again?"

"He won one fight." Theo waved him off, dismissive. "That doesn't mean I can't defeat him."

"So you do plan to continue with your plan to usurp his rule."

"Yep."

"I see." Herobrine didn't speak for a moment, twisting the handle of his pick in his hand.

"And if you're thinking about trying to fight me," Theo spoke up. "Forget about it. You've tried to beat me twice already, and failed both times. You know you can't beat me, save yourself a beating and-" He was cut off by a punch to the gut.

Heather stepped back, getting out of the way as their fight resumed. She'd like to step in, to try and avoid either of them getting hurt, but now that Herobrine had a good reason to fight she doubted she could talk him out of it. And, while she did like Theo, him taking over Minecraft has never been a good thing. She let them fight.

Backing away to what she hoped was a safe distance, Heather watched as they fought, comparing their fighting styles. Herobrine was incredibly precise in his movements, while Theo haphazardly hit him with everything he had. Considering Herobrine had tons of experience, and Theo had… none, it made sense.

Theo fired off a round of sparkling arrows, and Herobrine teleported back beside his wife. Immediately, the hacker teleported closer and hurled a purple potion at the ground between them.

A wave of exhaustion rolled over the blond, and she was on the ground before she realized she was falling. Blinking sleepy eyes open, she looked up to see Herobrine pinning Theo against the ground. Apparently the… what she assumed was a potion of weakness didn't affect him too much.

Letting out a sigh, she dropped her head to the ground and passed out.


	22. Chapter 22

**time for random bursts of updates because I Forgot I kinda abandoned this lol**

* * *

The next few hours passed in a daze.

Heather floated in and out of sleep, occasionally becoming aware of lights and voices around her before drifting off again. She had no idea how long it took, but eventually she managed to achieve consciousness and find herself in a small, wooden room.

She was on a mattress, which she pushed herself off of and struggled to her feet. She was dizzy, apparently the effects of the potion hadn't completely worn off yet. Bracing herself on the wall, she made her way towards the iron door on the far side of the room, with the intent of trying to get an idea of her location via the window. As she reached for the door to lean against it, however, it opened, and she didn't react quickly enough to avoid pitching forward and hitting the figure in the doorway.

"Whoa there." Black hands grasped her arms, and Heather tried to plant her feet underneath her, looking up.

"Theo?" She asked blearily.

"What are you doing out of bed? You're gonna hurt yourself, just wait for the potion to wear off." Grabbing Heather under the armpits, he hauled her upright, throwing an arm around her waist and half-dragging her back into the room. She let him, having a hard time processing what was happening here.

"Where's Herobrine?" She managed as her captor pushed her onto the bed.

"Locked up. I gave him a chance to leave me alone, but he was insistent." Theo flopped down next to her, watching as she struggled to sit up with the room spinning around her. "Sorry."

"Yeah." Heather gave up, falling back and staring up at the ceiling. "My head… feels like it's full of bees." She rambled, prompting a snicker from the boy next to her. "What the heck did you get me high on?"

"I told you those potions were weird. Oh- here." He paused, then grabbed her arm, tugging her upright and pressing a bottle of white liquid into her hand. She squinted at the item for a moment, then something clicked.

"Milk?"

"Yep." Removing the cork, Heather tipped it back, letting the universal antidote slide down her throat. Almost instantly, the lightheadedness began to clear, and as she blinked the buzzing in her skull faded away.

"That- is _so_ much better." The blonde pressed a cool hand to her forehead. "Thanks."

"No problem." There were a few moments of silence, and a question she had neglected to ask him before popped into her head.

"Theo?"

"Yeah?"

"...you went home, right?" A beat passed.

"Yeah."

"Was it- are you okay?" He shrugged, staring at the wall.

"My avatar doesn't reflect the state of my physical body. Any damage to me there didn't cross over."

"You were hurt?"

"A little." She hesitated, then pressed onwards.

"What's- if you- if it's okay for me to ask, what's- what's so bad about your home life?" She stumbled over the words, but managed to get them out. Theo blinked, looking over to meet her eyes.

"Why?"

"Just curious. I guess. I mean…" Heather combed her fingers through her hair, trying to string together an acceptable answer. "You're… you have a lot going on. I wanna know why you are the way you are."

"You wanna know my _tragic backstory?_" He flashed her a grin, and she snickered.

"I guess."

"Well, there are some things I don't wanna talk about. But the general overview is…" He leaned back on his hands, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, my mother and dad fell in love and got married. They had me a couple years later. One of my first memories is my mother hurling a glass bottle at me and it shattering on my head." Heather flinched.

"Theo…"

"She was a real *****. She played off my injuries as my own stupidity and I didn't have the guts to tell my dad the truth. Until I was like 6 and my dad caught her in the act." She clapped her hand over her mouth. He was a _baby._ "They had a huge fight about it. I don't really remember it. Next thing I know, I'm shipped off to a 'child welfare center' and move into a rotating roulette wheel of families to take care of me for a couple months before handing me off to the next. This went on for four years.

"When I was 10 or so, my father came to collect me. Apparently he'd been unable to take care of me for a while, so he just let me shuffle through the foster care system." Theo scowled, his voice growing noticeably more bitter. "And even once he took me back, I never _saw _him. He was at work nearly all the time, and when he was at home he was sleeping, or doing work-related stuff, or just staring dully at pictures of my mom. Because apparently she's more important than his _own child._" He stopped, and his face relaxed a bit.

"And that's… pretty much the end of the story. I did teenager stuff for the next 7 years, by myself. Learned how to hack and stuff, went to high school and was hated by everyone. Hence why I ****ing hate it there. It's lonely, difficult, and painful. It's not like that here."

"I mean…" The nether queen interjected. "You're being hunted by the god of this world, trying to break past his personal firewalls, and are going to seal all the sentient beings away once you succeed. That sounds kinda difficult, lonely, and painful."

"At least I have _some _say in what happens to me. For _once _in my life." He snapped. "Instead of being hurt, maybe this time _I_ can do the hurting."

"Theo!" Heather exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. "That's- a really bad mindset to get into!"

"Okay, I'm sorry." His expression didn't change. "It's a lot better like this, though."

"Please don't." She pleaded.

"What?"

"Go… evil." She shrugged. "Don't just… turn into someone like Null. Please." Theo huffed a breath, but nodded.

"Right. I'll do my best."

"Thanks." For a couple moments, neither of them moved. Then, before she could think better of it, Heather turned and threw her arms around Theo's neck.

"Hey-!" He yelped, grabbing at her arms, but froze as she hugged him tight and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled into his hoodie. "Sorry the people in your life did all that to you." There was a moment of stunned silence.

"...yeah, I don't think that milk totally cured you."

"Oh shut up." She squeezed him tighter. "You know I don't agree with what you're doing, but- I _understand _more now, at least. I understand why you hate Earth so much." He hesitated, then she felt a pair of hands rest on her back.

"...I'm glad." Slowly, he slid his arms around her, leaning into the hug. "That's… most people don't care."

"Most people are not like me." Heather paused. "Not since about 6 months ago, anyway."

"...yeah." He waited a moment more, then pulled away, and she let him go as he stared at the floor awkwardly. "I should go work."

"Yeah." She gave his shoulder a pat, and he jumped, but gave her a faint smile before leaving the room and closing the iron door behind him.

* * *

Theo closed the door to his captive's cell behind him, then leaned against it, letting out a soft breath.

What was he _doing_?

His heart felt swollen in his chest, painful against his ribs. He didn't understand where this affection had come from, it wasn't like Heather had started out liking him any more than anyone else did. Probably a lot less, actually. But… he cared for her so much, and every single time she interacted with him made it harder for him to go through with his plan.

He had to do something with Herobrine. Something to make him less of a danger, so that he could allow him to see his wife. He really wanted her to be happy.

Shaking his head, Theo teleported to his room, slumping down into a chair and pulling up a screen in front of him. Last time, Notch had interrupted him, but now he was far away. This time, he wasn't going to fail.

* * *

"I told you, she's _fine._" Notch gestured impatiently to a screen on his left, displaying a list of abnormal entities with the girl at the top. A full health and hunger bar were present beneath it. "Please allow me to return to my work."

"I don't mean alive, I mean _safe._" Steve's voice was firm. "I want to see her."

"Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to help you with that right now." The creator turned away from his steward, glancing at another screen filled to the brim with java code. "Her coordinates have been hidden again, undoubtedly she has been captured by the hacker. While unfortunate, there's nothing I can do until I can get through his barriers."

"Isn't there any other way?" A pleading note entered the miner's voice.

"Not as far as I know. Why are you so concerned about this all of a sudden?" Notch gave him a side-eyed look. "She has been in and out of his custody for the past few months. Why this now?"

"Call it a bad feeling." Steve shuffled a bit, looking down. "I just… feel like something's wrong."

"I see." Notch turns away. "Unfortunately, your feeling does not allow me to work any faster. Please leave my presence, so that I might be able to concentrate on the task at hand."

"Okay." Steve murmured a 'thank you' as well before leaving the room, retreating back to the living space he shared with Alex. While he had no doubt that they would be happier in their own homes, Notch was unwilling to leave them defenseless with Entity 303 roaming the world.

Turning back to his work, Notch input a new command and let his program run. Regrettably, it failed, unable to break through the shields 303 had built around himself. However, it did give him a rough estimate - somewhere to start.

Summoning his hammer in a free hand, Notch teleported. No matter how long it took, he _would _be rid of the intruder. There simply wasn't another option.


	23. Chapter 23

Heather didn't see anyone for more than three days.

Theo had all but vanished, and she was bored out of her mind in the tiny little room. There was a chest next to the bed with some food, but otherwise her cell was dull and unwelcoming. She wasn't sure if he was angry with her, or just busy, or killed by Notch, or _what,_ but there was no sign of him. She had even tried yelling for him through the window of her door. Nothing.

She was fairly sure he was okay, though, if only because Notch would most likely let her out if he killed him. Captor or not, Theo had become her friend. She didn't want to see him dead.

Finally, as she lay in bed at the end of the third day, he reappeared.

Heather was dozing on the mattress when she spotted a red light, and her eyes flickered open to find red eyes glowing on the other side of the room. She pushed herself up, and he jumped.

"Sorry."

"Sorry?" The blonde echoed, making a fist and rubbing at her tired eyes. "For what?"

"I thought you were asleep." Theo shrugged, not looking her in the eye.

"Uhm." She stretched her arms above her head. "Where've you been?"

"Just working."

"For three days?"

"Hey, _sometimes _I can focus." He gave her a halfhearted grin. "Sorry to leave you all alone so long. I got lost in my work."

"Make any progress?"

"A bit." His gaze flitted away again. "Notch is, as I've mentioned, really powerful."

"I'm aware."

"How are you doing? Have you run out of food?" Theo changed the subject. "Anything I can get you while I'm here?"

"I'm _bored._" Heather complained. "There's nothing to do but eat and sleep. Or… I could do push-ups or something, I guess, but I don't really want to."

"Fair enough. I also avoid physical exertion at every opportunity." Theo nodded, nonchalant. "Um, I can add a jukebox and some disks if you want. And some noteblocks."

"That sounds good." Playing around with music was something, at least. Heather watched with half-lidded eyes as he placed a row of noteblocks on one side of the room, then a jukebox beside her bed, along with a chest which he filled up with disks. "Are you too busy to hang out with me?"

"Pretty much, sorry." He gave her a half-smile. Something was definitely off with him.

"Did something happen?" She asked, trying to sit up straight. He blinked at her.

"Not really. Why?"

"You're… jumpy."

"Oh." He fiddled with his sleeve. "Maybe I'm just tired."

"Maybe." He was definitely lying about something, but she was doubtful that she could get it out of him. He'd just tell her more lies. "Where's Manfred been?"

"Manfred?" The hacker echoed, glancing up at her. "Oh… not sure. He's wandering somewhere, I guess."

"Oh." Not incredibly comforting, but whatever. "Okay. Have fun."

"Thanks." Without looking at her, he disappeared. Worry twisted her stomach as she slowly got to your feet, ambling over to the chest and fishing out a disk. Cat. After examining the record for a moment, she slipped it into the jukebox and sat down beside it as the melody began to play.

Heather let her chin rest in her palm, letting out a breath.. She wasn't really sure what to do now. She had no contact with… basically anyone but Theo, she didn't know where her husband was, and she didn't dare rely on Notch to come and save her. She was definitely kind of attached to Theo, and didn't want him hurt, but it would really unfair to everyone else for her to stop trying to oppose him - in the little ways she could, anyway.

She leaned back against her bed, letting out a deep sigh. She was really tired of not having any say in her situation. When she got out of there, she was definitely gonna have Herobrine train her some more. Next time, she wasn't going down without a fight.

* * *

Steve hid behind the doorway, peeking out into Notch's chamber as his creator typed in a string of numbers. The miner recognized a few strings of code on his screen - a tracking program. He was hunting down Entity 303.

Steve hesitated, then started to step out, opening his mouth to try and get his attention, but at that moment Notch disappeared in a burst of golden light. The miner stopped short, freezing in the doorway and glancing behind himself on a reflex. He had been intending to ask if there had been any progress in the search, but… now he was gone. Could he figure it out himself?

Venturing closer, Steve took his creator's place in front of the main screen, skimming the lines of code. He was hardly an expert, but he recognized the tracking program, and as he watched it appeared to pick up a signature - Notch's. He was searching the area himself.

His eyes strayed to a second screen, the one showing Heather's health and hunger bars. Again, she appeared perfectly fine, so he kept looking. 303's signature was also there, but he had no status bars. In creative mode. The last one on the list appeared to be Null.

Though he looked, however, he couldn't find any coordinates. Even Null, whose location Steve was sure Notch knew, had no coordinates listed. Unfortunate.

As he started to turn away, though, a beep from the main screen caught his attention. Red text was sprawled across the screen, a warning.

"an error was spotted; line 396" Steve reached out, scrolling up to the offending line, only to freeze in shock as he watched the code be rewritten.

The text on the screen was changing, exactly how it would be if Notch were here working on it, but the creator was nowhere to be found. 303. It had to be. Notch had called him a hacker, this must be his doing. Steve's eyes flitted about the room, looking for some way he might be able to call his master back - only to stop short at the sight of a strip of coordinates under the hacker's signature.

His location had been revealed. This could be his chance - but, he had no idea where Notch was, and he wasn't nearly strong enough to take him out on his own. Maybe he should get Alex-?

Heather's coordinates were visible too, Steve realized with a start. He could get her out of there. Quickly, he checked his inventory - he had a pickaxe, a sword, and a few baked potatoes. Good enough.

Heading back to the screen, the miner scrolled down to the latest line of code, and entered his own, a simple command.

"/tp Steve 27536907 46 54368964"


	24. Chapter 24

***heelies into view* it is I**

* * *

Heather let out a yelp as a figure appeared out of nowhere, right next to her.

"Heather!" She gasped as she was snatched up in a hug, and threw her arms around the figure's neck.

"Steve!"

"Are you okay?" Steve pulled away to look her in the eyes, scanning her face for any sign of injury. "Where's Herobrine? And 303?"

"Um, I think Herobrine's locked up, and Theo's trying to hack Notch."

"He's succeeding." The miner's jaw clenched, and he lowered her to her feet. "We have to stop him. Come on." He turned to face the door..

"Whoa whoa whoa, hang on a sec." Heather grabbed his wrist, causing him to stop short. "Sit down. Notch'll survive a few more minutes, we need to talk before we run off into danger."

"I- yeah. Okay." His tense body relaxing a bit, Steve met her gaze again, sinking down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "How are you doing? You didn't answer my question."

"Oh- I'm okay." The blonde sat down next to him, leaning back on her hands. She could already feel the buzz of adrenaline in her head, and her heart was thumping. Something was going to happen. "Herobrine and I chilled for a while, then Theo kidnapped us a few days ago. What do you mean he's succeeding?"

"I was in Notch's chamber while he was out hunting for 303, and I saw his code being rewritten." The miner's face was grim. "We have to stop him."

"We can't!" Heather protested. "He can beat both of us, easily! I mean, I don't think he'll hurt me, but he will hurt you!"

"What about Herobrine?" She could see the desperation in his eyes. "He could stop him."

"Probably." She considered it for a moment. "Yeah. At least stall him. C'mon, let's go find him."

"Great." The miner shot to his feet, giving the girl a hand up before drawing a pickaxe and heading for the iron door. She watched as he made short work of it, then grabbed his hand, holding onto him tight as the two of them hurried off down the dark hall.

The base was unfamiliar, probably an entirely different location than the one in the End. Or were they still in the End? She wasn't sure, and didn't really want to find out. For now, they just needed to get to Herobrine.

After wandering around for about 20 minutes, the pair ran across another dungeon-like hallway, lined with iron doors on either side. Letting go of Steve's hand, Heather began to check out one side, peering through the windows in the doors in search of glowing eyes while he checked the others. She got to the end of the hall without spotting him, but a moment after she passed the last door a quiet voice called out her name.

"Heather?" She stopped short, Steve crossing the hallway to join her as she retreated to the door the voice had come from.

"Herobrine?" A second look through the window revealed the outline of a body against the wall. His eyes were closed, but she knew her husband's voice.

Steve nudged her aside, then tore down the door with his pick. As it fell out of the way, Heather got a better view of Herobrine, and her face fell into a deep frown. He wasn't in cobwebs, or even chained. Why was he still in there…?

"Herobrine." She repeated, slipping through the doorway and sinking to the ground beside him. "Are you okay? Are you still drugged?"

"I'm alright. Help me up." His statement set off alarm bells in her head, but she obeyed, taking his arm and standing as Steve came to assist. Between the two of them, they helped the Nether King upright, and he wavered on his feet before catching his balance. Something was _definitely _not right.

Heather kept a hand on his arm as he moved out into the hall, ready to assist if he needed it, but he seemed comfortable on his feet. The moment the torchlight hit his face, though, her free hand flew to her mouth. His eyes weren't closed, they just didn't glow, and his face was pale. He looked sickly, his body trembling with the exertion of just standing upright.

"You're not okay." His wife exclaimed. "What happened to you?"

"303." Herobrine responded bitterly, his voice scratchy. "He did something to me. _Broke _me. He couldn't change _me, _who I am, so he destroyed my form. I can't teleport. I can hardly walk."

"Are you- _how?!_" Nervously, Heather tugged at her hair, heart thudding in her chest as she scanned the hallway for any sign of Theo. "And- and _why?_"

"He's wanted to be rid of me for a long time now. This was his solution, since he doesn't know he can just…" Herobrine trailed off, but she knew what he meant.

"Let's get away from here." Steve's voice was hushed, and Heather looked over to see his eyes trained on the other end of the hallway. "As far away from him as we can get. When Notch finds us-"

"No." Herobrine interrupted. "You go. Take her to Notch." He addressed Steve.

"What? Why?" The blonde's hand tightened on his arm. "Just come with us!"

"I will buy you some time. There's no guarantee when Notch will come for you - and I doubt he would help me anyway."

"Yes he would!" Steve protested. "He got over his hatred of you a long time ago. If-"

"I doubt that."

"It's true!"

"Regardless, he would not _fix _me. I'm useless to you now." He didn't look at Heather, stubbornly meeting Steve's eyes. "Take her to Notch. He's the only one who can protect her now."

"Herobrine!" She protested. "Theo won't hurt me, he likes me! Just come with us!"

"Heather." Finally, he met her gaze. "He won't kill me. Right now all I would do is slow you down. Get back to Notch, warn him of what 303 is doing. When he gets rid of him, you can release me. Alright?" She hesitated. Theo still thought he was survival, as far as she knew, so…

"Okay." She relented. "Stay safe."

"I will try." He bent down to kiss her forehead. "Steve, I need a weapon." The miner offered him the pick in his hand. Herobrine took it, and his wife winced as he visibly struggled with the weight. "Go." He urged them away, and Steve took her hand, leading her back down the hall in the direction they had come from.

The two of them hurried back towards Heather's room, footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. She heard voices echoing down the halls towards them, but they were too garbled for her to understand. All she could do was hope Theo took him out quickly.

They hid out in the cell, Steve mining a few blocks from the ceiling and using them to block the door. Against Theo, it meant basically nothing, but maybe it made him feel better. All Heather could feel was growing anxiety as the minutes ticked by.

She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but she wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid of him finding out Herobrine was hardcore and finishing him off, and locking up Steve again forever. Even Notch, who, despite their… previous interactions, she was worried for. She was afraid of being trapped here for eternity. Theo liked her, she knew that for sure, but he had stated already that he planned to have her keep him company. If Notch didn't beat him, she would never be able to leave. Never see her family again.

It was at this moment that Heather realized that, for the first time since she had met him, she was truly afraid of Theo.

A flash of light caught her gaze, and she looked up as Notch appeared beside her.

"Notch!" Steve shot to his feet. "The hacker- 303's gotten into your code, you have to stop him before-"

"I'm aware." Notch interrupted. "You two need to get back to safety. I will take care of him." He extended a hand towards them, and Heather was overwhelmed by a sense of unbalance as they were transported to a stone-brick hallway.

"Come on." Steve caught her hand as she stumbled, pulling her along with him as he hurried down the corridor. "Let's find Alex. Safety in numbers, right?"

"Alex?" Heather blinked, stumbling over her own feet as she processed this, before she remembered. "Oh. Right." They still hadn't met. A tiny smile played at her mouth as she allowed herself to think about that, rather than the impending doom of everyone else in the world.

Steve dragged her into a slightly more homely area that resembled a basic starter house, where she spotted a redheaded woman sharpening an axe where she sat by the fire. She glanced up as they approached, raising one eyebrow.

"I assume this is your kid?"

"Not _mine._" Steve's voice held a note of defensiveness, and the blonde blinked as she wondered what exactly Alex knew about her. "But yes, this is Heather. Heather, Alex."

"A pleasure. What's going on?" Alex gave the girl a curt nod before looking away, and Steve let go of her hand as he stepped closer to fill her in. She glanced around the room, taking stock of her surroundings, before sinking down on top of a block of wool and hugging her arms to her chest. She couldn't believe she was saying (thinking?) this, but she really hoped that Notch won.

Her hopes were dashed as Theo stepped into the doorway, a bloodied pickaxe clutched in one hand.

"Heather." Steve shouted, and she scrambled upright, running to his side. The miner drew a sword, and Alex got to her feet, brandishing the gleaming axe with cold determination in her eyes.

"Heather, just make this easier on yourself and come here." Theo ambled into the room, glancing idly at his surroundings as he swung the pick back and forth in his hand. "Make it a lot less painful for all of us."

"No!" Heather glared at him from behind her guardians. "You can still stop this! Just leave them alone!"

"It's too late." The hacker's voice was clipped. "Notch, and Herobrine, are gone. These two are just loose ends that need tied up."

"What?" Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. "They're- what?"

"Well, they're not _gone._" Theo amended. "Just in stasis, I suppose. Shut down for the time being. The only way they could come back is if I allowed them to - and I don't plan to." He gestured vaguely towards Steve and Alex, still ready for a fight. "These two are about to follow them."

"_No!_" Heather cried, grabbing onto Steve's free arm with both hands. "You don't- _why?!_ They can't even do anything to you! Just let them go!"

"I can't leave them running around free." Theo blinked at her, as though that should be obvious. "They're smart. Steve here figured out how to track me down and teleport to my base. They're not brainless mobs, I know better than to underestimate them."

"_Please_ don't. You beat _Notch,_ what do you have to worry about from them?"

"When they have eternity to figure out how to beat me? Everything." Theo extended a hand towards them, and Heather cringed away. "Don't worry. They won't feel a thing."

In her grasp, Steve stiffened, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell. The blonde opened her mouth to cry out, but before the sound could even escape he pixelated and disappeared.

A firm hand landed on her shoulder as she gaped, silent, and she whirled around to see Alex standing behind her with her face curled into a sneer.

"You're a coward." She snapped, her axe primed to strike. "Pathetic. Using your techno-magic to take us out without even allowing us a fair fight. What makes you think you're qualified to rule this world?" Theo smirked, opening his mouth to respond, but the only sound that came from him was a startled cry as Alex hurled her axe across the room and it sank into his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground as red blossomed on the white of his clothing.

Growling a string of curses, Theo yanked the axe from his flesh, teleporting upright as his form reset. Heather's eyes flitted upwards to see another axe materialize in Alex's hand, but, before she could throw it, her grip slackened and her eyes opened wide, her body freezing in place.

"If I'm so pathetic," Theo's voice was a snarl, and Heather tore her eyes away from her guardian's motionless form to see his red eyes narrowed into slits. "Then why did I _win?_" Alex collapsed, and the blonde stumbled back as she disappeared in a cloud of shimmering pixels.

Heather sunk to the floor, pressing her hands to her face against the tears welling up in her eyes. The room was silent for a moment, then footsteps began to cross the room towards her. She let a sob wrench itself from her throat, and heard a shuffle as he stumbled, but he kept approaching. After a moment, a hand rested on her shoulder.

"Sorry." He told her quietly. "But you knew it had to be done."

His grip tightened, and he whisked the two of them away, leaving the overworld silent and still.


	25. Chapter 25

Heather was no stranger to being alone, but this loneliness and grief was stronger than anything she had ever felt before.

Theo had brought her to the End, to a castle built of gold and diamonds. It was far too grand, when she considered she was the only one who would ever see it. It sat on a static island in the void, evidently isolated from the rest of the dimension considering she couldn't see any other land no matter how hard she tried. High walls surrounded the edges, making certain that she couldn't make any attempt to escape. While she had free range of the island otherwise, her gilded prison was just that - a prison.

She was alone in the castle, not even a single mob made its appearance. She knew Endermen should be spawning frequently, so she could surmise that they were probably shut down as well. Was this really Theo's plan? To rule an empty dimension, devoid of color and laughter and life? Did he really hate people that much?

Heather spent a long time - maybe a couple days, but she couldn't tell - exploring the castle. She only rarely saw Theo as she wandered through his empty home, which was cold and bare, devoid of any comforts. No furniture, carpets, or even beds. It was useless as a home and barely viable as a shelter, all it accomplished was probably what it was built to do - to be a monument to his power and his victory. She wondered idly when he found the time to build this.

Theo himself never moved from his throne in the great hall of the castle, always typing away at a virtual keyboard. Heather wasn't sure what he was doing, he had already won, hadn't he? Did he shut down all mobs, or just the ones in this plane? Notch had once 'stored the minecraft world away' to fight Herobrine - could Theo do the same thing? She had a lot of questions, but couldn't bring herself to ask. Not yet. Not after everything he had done.

But, eternity was a long time. Eventually, one way or another, she would work up the courage to get her answers. It wasn't like she had anything else to work towards in this miserable world.

The day to confront him came a few days later.

Obviously, Heather couldn't really tell how fast time was passing, there was no indication whatsoever of day and night in her environment, but she could estimate it had been about three days since Theo trapped her there. Not that it really mattered, but it helped her deteriorating sanity to have some grasp of the passage of time.

Leaving the small sanctuary she had made herself in a corner of a small room, Heather made her way through the castle, the layout of which she had already memorized after having nothing to do but wander the grounds of for the past few days. She went over her questions a hundred times as she made her way to the throne room, rewording them over and over, but she still wasn't ready when she approached her captor's throne.

"Nice of you to show your face." Theo commented as she stepped into view, not looking up from the small screen floating in front of him. "I was wondering if I was ever going to see you again."

"Like you have any right to be mad at me." Heather shot back, hands balling into fists at her sides as her apprehension turned into anger. "It's not like you didn't know where to find me. I'm trapped here."

"Right, whatever." His voice was flat and emotionless as he tapped at his keyboard. "Tell me, what have I done to warrant a visit from the high-and-mighty Nether Queen?" His words sent tears springing to her eyes, and she immediately whirled around to leave.

"****. I'm sorry, that was mean of me." His tone changed instantly, from cold and hard to soft and apologetic. "I'm sorry. What did you need?"

"I _wanted_," Heather ground out from behind clenched teeth. "To ask you some stuff."

"Go ahead." She heard shuffling, and glanced behind her to see Theo climbing down from the platform his throne rested upon to approach her. He placed a block of wool, and gently took her by the arm, pulling her down to sit on it before settling beside her. It was a kind gesture, but she didn't really trust it. "Heather?" He prompted, and she ran through her questions once more before choking one out past the lump in her throat.

"Did you s-seal away all the mobs too? There are n-no Endermen."

"Basically, yeah." He gave her a small nod. "I'd rather not have them around just yet. Not until I finish."

"Finish what?" Her eyes flickered to his throne, and the small screen that still floated in front of it. Theo followed her gaze.

"Since Notch is sealed away now, he can't stop me from taking the power he had as the owner of the dimension." A beat. "So, now I'm the owner. That means I can, for all intents and purposes, do anything I want."

"Which is…?"

"I'm cutting the world off from Earth." Heather's heart stilled in her chest. She remembered this. He talked about it before, what seemed like forever ago. "No more players will be able to connect, and Mojang won't be able to influence my code. I'll be safe."

"You'll be trapped here." Her voice trembled. And so would she.

"If that's what it takes for me to be safe, I'm willing to make that sacrifice."

"_I'm_ not!" The tears returned with a vengeance, and one escaped down her cheek. "I want-"

"Heather," he interrupted, but she ignored him.

"I want to g-go _home. _I don't want to be stuck here forever, I w-want to see my friends and family again." Her voice was wobbling dangerously, but she pressed on. "_Please_ just let me go home, I don't want to- I don't want to be trapped here forever. Why _me,_ a-anyway? Why do you want me here so bad? Why can't I just go _home?"_

"Because I care about you!" Theo insisted. "I- I've never- I don't know what it's like to have a sibling, I've never had one, but you- you're like a little sister to me." His eyes were wide and earnest. He was telling the truth. "You're the only other person who's- well, who's been _nice_ to me. The only _good _person I've ever met. I don't want to- I _can't _lose you, because I love you!"

"That's _not _what love is!" Heather was on your feet. She didn't remember standing up, but she was upright now, hands clenched into angry fists at her sides as she glared down at the stunned teen in front of her. "You- I know you don't have much experience with love, but here's a tip: _this isn't it._ This is selfish, and hurtful, and-" She hesitated, formulating her next sentence as hot tears began to stream down her face.

"Love is patient, love is kind." Her voice wobbled, but, amazingly, didn't crack. "It doesn't envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always-" Her breath caught and she swallowed hard. "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

"Love is when you care for another person so much that you put them _above yourself._ When you're willing to _sacrifice _for someone. Herobrine- H-Herobrine showed love." She dashed the tears off her face with her sleeve, a pointless gesture as more immediately took their place. "He was willing to bring me home. Willing to bring m-me back to my family even i-if he'd never see me again. Steve showed love." She couldn't really see past the tears blurring her vision, but from his silence she knew Theo's attention was still on her. "He r-risked being killed back in the beginning to try and p-protect me from Herobrine.

"Alex showed love." She smiled a bit at that. "She protected me, a-and she didn't even know me. She protected me for Steve's s-sake. Heck, even _Notch_ showed love. He t-tried to keep his creations safe from _you._

"You can k-keep me here forever. I can't s-stop you. But don't even claim that it's because you _care. _That it's about _love._ You only care about _yourself._" She stopped, chest heaving from lack of air and excess of emotion. The void was silent except for her raspy breaths, and the occasional sniffle as she struggled to stop the tears from flowing.

A soft sob caught her attention, and her heart dropped.

He was crying.

Theo was crying.

Rubbing at her eyes, Heather blinked past the film of tears to find him on his knees, hands pressed over his face to hide his tears as he cried. He shook his head, almost imperceptibly, as if he felt her gaze on him as she sank down to sit on the wool block again. She could feel a knot of emotion forming in her chest, but struggled against it. She couldn't afford to feel sorry for him.

"I'm s-sorry." He gasped out. "I'm really sorry, I _am_, I didn't- I didn't _understand._ I'm _sorry._" He choked back a sob. "I'll b-bring you home, I _promise_. Please d-don't be mad." Her heart skipped. Just like that? Was he serious? "I was s-selfish, I know." He continued, head bowed over his hands. "I'm sorry, I was just - _sorry._"

He looked so distraught that she couldn't help it. Even though he was - well, like he was, he had rarely been anything but honest. Heather slid off the block and threw her arms around him.

He jumped when she touched him, but didn't otherwise react except to lean forward and press his forehead to her shoulder as he cried.

"I'm sorry," He apologized again. "I was s-scared. I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that." She grumbled, shifting to a more comfortable position on the ground beside him. Her face was red and swollen, heart pounding in her chest, but she was starting to calm down. She could go home.

Neither of them spoke for a couple minutes, as Theo's sobs slowly died down to the occasional hiccup. Finally, he whispered,

"I miss m-my dad." Heather blinked, lifting her chin from where it rested on his shoulder.

"...go home, then."

"I c-can't."

"Yes you can." She insisted, but he only let out a shuddering sob. "I'll come with you. Will that help?"

"N-no, I can't- I can't go back." He protested. "I'm so tired of being hurt, I can't go back to-"

"Let me _help_ you, then." She interrupted, and his mouth snapped shut. "I don't- I don't like you as much as you like me. But I _do_ care. I want to make it so that you can be happy, a-as long as it isn't at the expense of others' happiness." She paused, but he didn't respond. "What do you mean hurt? Who's hurting you?"

"People. At school." He mumbled into her jacket. "Everyone _hates _me. I didn't do anything to-" His voice hitched, and he stopped.

"Did you tell your dad?"

"N-no, what would he do?"

"Well you don't know unless you _ask_, will you?" The retort came out ruder than she intended, and she followed it up with a sigh as she lowered her chin onto his shoulder again. "Go home. Bring me with you."

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"I can't!"

"Theo!" He stiffened at the sound of his name, and his grip on her slackened a bit. "If you-"

"Riley." He interrupted, his voice barely more than a whisper. "My name's Riley."

"...Riley." That's a good sign, she hoped? Heather had almost forgotten Theo wasn't his real name, but she did remember that the reason he never gave her his name in the first place was because he didn't want to go back. Now…?

"Riley, you can't just keep running away from your problems. You have to face them." She mustered as much courage in her voice as she could manage. "They'll always catch up to you eventually. Even here. Eternity, remember?"

"...yeah." His response came out in a pitiful whisper, but it was still loud against the deafening silence of the void. "Okay."

A flash of light swallowed them up, and Heather's surroundings were replaced by a dark room.

She pulled away, blinking in the sudden darkness, and she felt Theo- _Riley _scoot back and get to his feet.

"H-hang on." A pause, then a _click _sounded as a lamp turned on beside her head. The blonde looked up as her eyes adjusted, and found herself face-to-face with a teenage boy with tanned skin and dark, curly hair. The same features, though, the same face. It was still him.

Pressing a hand against the floor beside her, Heather stumbled to her feet, squinting around the room at her surroundings. Theo's room was small and cramped, a computer behind her and a bed to her left. Between them, they took up most of the space in the room.

"Let's find your dad." She took a wobbly step towards the door on the other side of the room, but Theo snatched up her wrist before she could get far.

"Not now, it's the middle of the night." He whispered in protest, but she twisted her arm and slipped free. He tried to grab her again, but abruptly crumpled in on himself as a pained yelp escaped him.

"H-hey, you okay?" Heather turned on her heel, sitting down beside him as he sank onto the edge of the bed.

"Ribs are bruised, I think." He whispered, curling an arm protectively around his chest. "Got beat up yesterday."

"Oh." She sat stiffly for a moment, not sure what to say. She could already see why he wanted to stay away so badly.

The door creaked open, and Heather's head snapped up as the light flipped on to reveal a large, blond man in the doorway.

"Riley?" The man exclaimed, gaze falling on her as she instinctively sat up straight. "What's going on? Who is this, what is she-"

"Dad." Theo interrupted, and his father froze, his attention directed immediately to the boy beside her. He stared for a moment, presumably taking in his face, red with tears, and the bruises she could now see on his arms and neck.

"Hey," His voice took on a softer note as he started to approach, slipping through the doorway and kneeling beside the bed. "What happened to you, kid?"

"School. Hamill beat me up." Theo's face was blank and empty, the only emotion she could read was exhaustion. "Again."

"Hamill-?" Before he could question him further, Theo lurched forward and flung his arms around his father's neck, prompting a startled shout from the man as he buried his face in his shoulder. His dad didn't move for a moment, then tentatively wrapped his arms around his son. "What's going on?" His eyes flickered to Heather again, and she mouthed 'later'. Blinking, he gave her a single nod before closing his eyes and tightening his arms around his child.

The tension in her body disappeared, and a small smile finally worked its way onto her face. Not everything was fixed yet, Minecraft was still empty and she wasn't home.

But, at least Riley was.


	26. Chapter 26

Greens and blues materialized around him once more, and Herobrine dropped onto his feet with a soft _thump._

Immediately, he spotted Entity 303 in front of him, and instinctively reached for a weapon - only to find his inventory empty. That wasn't good. He tried to teleport, but nothing happened. That's right. He had been turned mortal. He couldn't use many of his abilities in this state.

"Herobrine!" Warm arms were thrown around him, and he jumped, stumbling a bit due to his reduced strength. "Don't worry, he's on our side now. Just wait a minute, he'll turn you back the way you were."

"Heather?" He managed, eyes flitting down to the girl pressed against his side. She grinned up at him, and he found himself smiling back. "What's going on?"

"A lot of stuff happened, but-" She turned to nod in the hacker's direction. "303's- well, he's my friend now. He's not gonna mess with you."

"Except for restoring your previous form, of course." The boy cut in, then hit a key. Immediately, Herobrine's body flooded with power, and he straightened up as his eyes began to glow once more. Chuckling, he bent down to wrap his arms around his wife, lifting her off the ground as he hugged her tightly to his chest. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder, and he closed his eyes for a moment as he spun her around. She was safe.

"I have to talk to you about something." She whispered into his ear. He nodded, glancing around at his surroundings before placing her back on her feet. They were in a plains biome, one he didn't recognize.

"Here." Taking her by the hand, he lead her away from the hacker as he went back to tapping on the keyboard in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Herobrine spied another figure materializing out of thin air - Steve. He wasn't sure what exactly Heather had done to have the hacker reverse the changes he'd made, but he did know that she could be very convincing when she wanted to be. Case in point, Notch.

Once they had travelled an acceptable distance from the others - now including Alex - Herobrine stopped, sinking down to sit on the soft grass. Heather sat down beside him, playing with the hem of her shirt for a moment before letting out a breath and meeting his eyes.

"I think- I love you." She squeezed his hand, and he blinked. She… did? "I'm not, uh, really sure what love should feel like. I'm not by any means an expert. But I do know that I care about you, and I want you to be happy. And… I think I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Herobrine's heart skipped a beat. He would be certain he was dreaming, if not for this being far more lovely than any dream he had ever experienced.

"But," Heather continued, looking down at the ground. "I don't know if that's possible." Of course, Herobrine knew it couldn't be that simple. "I love my family, too. I miss them. I can't… I'm not willing to leave them forever. So…" She met his eyes again, hopeful. "Maybe we can take advantage of the time difference. I can spend the day at home, then the night here. It's not a perfect solution, but… it could work." She stopped, and he was silent for a moment before she prompted, "What do you think?"

"I think…" He looked down at their clasped hands, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "Any solution that lets me see you, even if it's months or years apart, is good enough for me." A smile lit up her face, and she scrambled onto her knees to kiss his cheek. He turned his head as she pulled away, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"But…" He continued. "I think… there might be another option." Heather's smile vanished, and he hastened to continue. "I could come back with you." His wife was frozen for a moment, processing this.

"You mean… come to Earth?" He nodded. "And stay?" Nodded again. "But- is that possible? I mean, where would you stay? There's no way my parents would be okay with you being near me, you look so much older, and your eyes-"

"Hey," He interrupted. "I would figure it out. As long as you're alright with it."

"I-" Her eyes were wide, and she looked down at the grass, a thousand emotions crossing her face. "I- don't know if it'll work." She met his eyes again, this time smiling. "But let's give it a try."

* * *

Somehow, after all the nonsense they had gone through, everything worked out fine in the end.

Theo brought Minecraft back and restored all the mobs, including giving Manfred back his freedom to choose his own master. Notch was less than thrilled with the idea of Theo getting off without any sort of consequence, but grudgingly agreed to leave him alone. Heather had a significant amount of say in what he did now - he owed her, if not for her he and his world would still be in stasis.

Heather and Theo explained everything to his dad, who seemed really incredulous about the story until his son took him into the game for a minute. Heather wasn't entirely sure what went on afterwards, but they had a long talk, and Theo seemed happier afterwards.

After they said goodbye to Steve, with a promise to come and visit every now and then, Heather and Herobrine returned to Earth. He quickly slipped away, and reappeared two days later with a job and an apartment - and sunglasses. Apparently he just… got away with wearing them all the time?

They couldn't let themselves be seen together, but always managed to meet up at least once a day on Heather's walk home from school. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was better than spending months apart.

They couldn't be together just yet, and it might be a long time before they could, but they were willing to wait for it.

* * *

_Year 2389_

The cave was plunged into darkness as a final torch died.

For a few moments, everything was silent, the soft crackling of the torch's flame finally silenced. Then a skeleton spawned, standing stiffly in place for a beat before walking aimlessly towards the opposite wall.

With a soft _vwoop, _an Enderman teleported into the chamber. He glanced back and forth, scanning the quiet cave with his violet eyes, before spying a soft glow on the other side. Curious, he teleported closer, and came across a lone Nether Portal in the otherwise empty cave.

The mob stepped closer to investigate, trailing clawed fingers over the obsidian. On an impulse, he grabbed a block with both hands and tugged the cube free from the frame. The portal went silent.

In another dimension, white eyes flickered open in a pitch-black cage.

"**I… am free?"**

* * *

**well shoot.**

**triquel coming soon :)**

**~FFF**


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